Is my husband immune to HIV?

Jan 03, 2010

THE condition you have described is known as discordance. It refers to a cohabiting or married couple where one partner is infected with HIV and the other is not. It is a phenomenon which is not easy to explain.

Face HIV with Dr. Watiti

Dear doctor,
My husband and I have been married since 1994. Before we started living together I conceived and when I went for antenatal care, I was tested for HIV and found positive while he was negative. Over the last 15 years, we have had mostly un- protected sex and produced six children one of whom is HIV-positive. My husband is however still negative though I am now sickly and have been advised to start taking ARVs. Could it be that my husband is immune to HIV because he is circumcised?
Molly

Dear Molly,
THE condition you have described is known as discordance. It refers to a cohabiting or married couple where one partner is infected with HIV and the other is not. It is a phenomenon which is not easy to explain.

That is why we advise people in sexual relationships to go for HIV testing together and never assume that because one has tested HIV-positive or negative, their partners are of the same status.

Another lesson from your experience is that in a marriage relationship where consensual sex is practiced, one may be exposed to HIV several times without being infected.

However, the risk of getting infected with HIV if one is in a discordant relationship is 10 times higher than it is in the general population. That partly explains why most of the new infections are occurring within marriage relationships.

Other factors that may explain your husband’s situation are the virulence or aggressiveness of the virus you are infected with and the fact that your husband is circumcised. Circumcision offers up to 60% protection from HIV infection.

However, the two of you should go for couple counselling and learn to use condoms correctly and consistently when having sex because not even circumcised men are immune to HIV. With continued exposure, your husband will eventually get infected.

You should start taking ARVs because your being sickly means your immune system has been badly damaged. Being on ARVs will also help your husband because when HIV has been suppressed and you have a low viral load, you will not be as infectious as someone who is not on treatment.

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