Many people have been asked about the fact that they usually keep to themselves, but only occasionally have an unclean sexual act that they do not control.
So, just this once, how high is the risk of contracting HIV? In this regard, I would like to say that if a person is not a sage, he can do no wrong!
But the risk of "one hit" is actually a complex issue, involving a combination of factors.
1. Who is the identity of the other party?
To put it simply, the transmission of AIDS requires the presence of an infectious agent, i.e., an HIV-infected person or an AIDS patient. If the person is not an AIDS patient, there is no source of infection, and it is impossible to spread AIDS.
For example, if the other person is your long-term partner, boyfriend or girlfriend, or even a "first-time" person, and neither of them is in a polysexual group, then the other person is unlikely to have HIV and will not spread it. However, if the person may be (uncertain or suspected) living with HIV or AIDS, there may be a risk of contracting HIV even once for high-risk behavior.
So, how can you tell if the other person is an AIDS patient? In general, people at high risk of HIV transmission include men who have sex with men (especially gay men), people who use drugs intravenously, people who have sexual contact with people living with HIV/AIDS, people who have multiple sexual partners, and people with sexually transmitted diseases.
In other words, if you have been in contact with these high-risk groups, such as commercial sex, illegal prostitution, one-night stands, or men who have sex with men, you will be at relatively high risk of contracting HIV.
According to 2020 statistics, there were about 3,000 new cases of HIV among young students aged 15-24 in China, of which 98.6% were sexually transmitted. Of these new cases, 81.7 per cent were males and 16.9 per cent were heterosexual transmitted.
Therefore, adolescent students should be especially aware of the risk of transmission among men!
The age distribution of HIV/AIDS patients in mainland China is relatively more than 25 years old and over 60 years old, and the proportion of newly reported cases in 2022 is sexually transmitted to 97.6%
Heterosexual transmission was 72.0% and male homosexual transmission was 25.6%
By the end of 2023, 1.29 million cases of HIV/AIDS have been reported alive nationwide.
A total of 458,000 deaths have been reported
2. What kind of high-risk behaviors have occurred?
Different high-risk behaviors correspond to different transmission risks, with some behaviors having a higher risk of transmission and others being almost negligible. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2015:
- Direct transfusion of blood or blood products containing HIV carries an extremely high risk of transmission, almost 90% to 100%.
- Intravenous or intramuscular injection (mainly drugs) with shared syringes or needles is also one of the high-risk behaviors, with a risk of transmission of about 0.63%.
- The risk of transmission of needlestick injuries in medical exposure is approximately 0.23%.
Sexual transmission is the most important route of transmission of AIDS. There is a risk of transmission if the person is HIV-infected and has unprotected genital contact, whether male or female. The risk of infection is about 1.38% for the receiver and about 0.11% for the penetrator for a single unprotected anal sex in men. The risk of female-to-male transmission is about 0.04% for a single unprotected heterosexual vaginal intercourse, and about 0.08% for male-to-female intercourse.
The risk of infection is relatively low with oral sex, especially with oral sex alone, where the risk is close to zero.
3. Are AIDS patients receiving effective treatment?
If a person with HIV infection is diagnosed in a timely manner and receives effective antiviral therapy, their viral load in their body is greatly reduced, significantly reducing the risk of transmission. According to current medical advances, most patients can reduce their viral load to undetectable levels within 3-6 months after treatment.
Once the HIV viral load has stabilized at an undetectable level (<200copies/ml) for more than 6 months, the risk of sexual transmission is almost zero even without protection (U=U, i.e., "undetectable = non-infectious").
In 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies the risk of transmission into three levels based on viral load intervals:
- Undetected: HIV viral load below the lower limit of detection and zero risk of transmission to sexual partners;
- Detectable and viral load ≤ 1000 copies/ml: risk of transmission is close to zero;
- Viral load > 1000 copies/ml: there is a significant risk of transmission.
4. Are protective measures in place?
If condoms are used during sex, the risk of transmitting AIDS is greatly reduced. Although condoms do not provide 100% protection, they can effectively block the exchange of body fluids and greatly reduce the risk of transmission. As long as condoms are used properly and are not broken or falling off, the risk of HIV transmission is almost negligible.
The risk of "one hit" of AIDS is relatively low, but even so, no matter how low the risk is magnified to the whole population, there will be "unlucky" individuals who are unfortunately infected even if they only have one high-risk behavior.
Therefore, no matter how high or low the risk is, in the face of the severity and harm of AIDS, you must not gamble your luck with your health.