As we know, this is precisely how STDs work. While it’s hard to transmit an
STD through hundreds of incidents of unprotected vaginal and anal sex,
just two little exposures will always do the trick.
*
But HIV is, by definition, a sexually transmitted virus. We know this by
rote. That said, AIDS researchers have had occasional difficulty proving
it. While drug use correlates highly with HIV positivity; sex, outside of
drug use, is not such a willing a participant in the HIV cycle.
*
Take this 1988 review from the Journal of the American Medical
Association: “[N]one of the husbands of four seropositive [HIV positive]
women were infected despite regular sexual contact for as long as three
years. In another study involving 12 couples, no transmission from the
infected woman to the male partner occurred after more than 100 sexual
contacts. Thus, vaginal intercourse may carry a low risk to the insertive
partner, as does anal intercourse. ” (JAMA, 1988; 259(20))
*
But that’s male to female contact – generally considered the least risky.
What about female to male?
*
From the January 17, 2002 Journal of Infectious Disease: “The study…of 17
women who remained uninfected, despite a history of heavy exposure to HIV
through repeated, unprotected sexual contact with an infected partner, and
12 of their regular, male HIV-positive partners.”
*
Well, what about male to male?
*
An April 1996 study in Nature Medicine focused on 24 hetero- and
homosexual men who’ve remained HIV negative despite “histories of multiple
high-risk sexual exposures to HIV-1,” including “sex with multiple
HIV-1-infected partners,” or “long-term relationships involving
unprotected sexual intercourse over many years [with] predominantly a
single HIV-infected partner.” “All subjects were HIV-1 negative,” even
though “several [of their] partners succumbed to AIDS.” (Nature Medicine.
1996 2(4))
*
What about longer studies?
*
“At Kenyatta National Hospital [Kenya] …out of 31 couples tested, 23 were
discordant [one positive, one negative]. Some of them have stayed in a
sexual relationship with the infected partner for more than six years
without the infected one passing the virus to the other. And when these
discordant couples brought their children for testing, all of them were
free of the virus…” (Horizon Magazine, December 18, 2003)
*
What about larger studies?
*
“[W]e studied 50 sexually active couples with discordant antibody results
[one positive, one negative]...seronegative partners continued to have
negative results in all tests for a mean follow-up period of 17 months
despite ongoing sexual relations with their seropositive
partners….approximately one-half of each group reported some instances of
unprotected intercourse…intercourse with outside partners was uncommon in
both groups, as was current illicit drug use. (Clin Infectious Disease.
July, 1995;211)
*
What about longer and larger studies?
*
From a study called “Heterosexual Transmission of HIV in Northern
California: Results from a Ten-Year Study”: “We followed up 175
HIV-discordant couples over time, for a total of approximately 282
couple-years of follow up.…No transmission [of HIV] occurred among the 25%
of couples who did not use their condoms consistently, nor among the 47
couples who intermittently practiced unsafe sex during the entire duration
of follow-up…We observed no seroconversions after entry into the study
[nobody became HIV positive]”(American Journal of Epidemiology. August,
1997.)
*
Ten years and no transmission? Huh. Every time I watch Law and Order:
Special Victims Unit, HIV tracks like a muddy footprint from the “perp” to
the victim.
