• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of, and finding treatments for, complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

FALSEHOOD: HIV - nearly impossible to catch sexually

Status
Not open for further replies.

Ian

Senior Member
Messages
286
Sleeping with an HIV partner:
a woman has an estimated 0.1% chance of being infected
and a man 0.05%

So, according to the statistics, for a guy even if you slept with an HIV infected woman 1000 times, you would only have a 50% chance of catching it. That would be like having unprotected sex every day for nearly 3 years straight.

I thought a little perspective might be useful, seeing as how everyone is freaking out about the new retrovirus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiv#Transmission
 

Jemal

Senior Member
Messages
1,031
Interesting. How come HIV has been spreading like wildfire in many African countries however?
 

ukxmrv

Senior Member
Messages
4,413
Location
London
I'm not really sure how that would add "a little perspective". Many couples are having unprotected sex for years (if they are lucky etc...)
 

Ian

Senior Member
Messages
286
Oral sex performed on men has an even higher transmission ratio, I think.

The numbers say a 1 in 10,000 chance of catching it from oral sex. And for the man that is receiving, a 1 in 20,000 chance.
 

Ian

Senior Member
Messages
286
With numbers like this with HIV, it's a wonder anybody catches it. It must be the most uninfectious agent ever discovered. You probably have a greater chance of winning the lottery then catching HIV. Flu on the other hand, one person in the house gets it, before long everyone gets it. Yet back to HIV, the magic virus, you can be HIV positive and not spread it to anyone, by kissing, sexually, promixity and have it for a decade before symptoms show (officially). Truely incredible. If you can't see something wrong with this picture ..

I just wonder what dangerous drugs they will try on CFS patients, to kill the new magic virus.
 

Riley

Senior Member
Messages
178
I believe the chances of transmission through anal sex are much higher. Hence the rapid spread in the gay community in the 80's. Also, I've read that their are now strains that are much more infectious emerging in different parts of the world.
 

SOC

Senior Member
Messages
7,849
Thanks, CBS. I knew something wasn't right, just wish I'd done a better job of my research.

I'll gladly delete my posts. I agree that this thread is uninformed, misleading, and downright dangerous.
 

citybug

Senior Member
Messages
538
Location
NY
The Wiki data are for overall risk with any partner, not just risk with HIV+ partners!

Misinterpretation of data and posts such as this, declaring that HIV is nearly impossible to transmit is going to get someone killed! Think about it.
However, for our analysis, if the serostatus of a partner was unknown, we assumed the probability this partner was infected would be equal to the HIV prevalence in the community. We further assumed this prevalence would be 10% for men who have sex with men and 1% for heterosexuals attending HIV/STD clinics. If a partner had tested positive for HIV, we assumed the test algorithm had no false-positives and that the partner was HIV-infected. .


Thank you CBS for clarifying this. This is just playing with statistics, not a study of people catching it. The prevalence in the community will vary greatly (what if your community is one positive person?)

A moderator should at least change the title of this thread. No one wants to spread bad information.
 

Martlet

Senior Member
Messages
1,837
Location
Near St Louis, MO
Closing this topic

I am closing this topic as some of the views expressed are totally wrong, statistically, and are outright dangerous. HIV is readily transmitted sexually and any suggestion otherwise is misleading and, if believed by any readers, could lead to the loss of their health and possibly even their lives.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back