Q: I am a male, 26 years old. Let me relate an incident to you. I happened to go to a massage parlour for a massage, but got carried away and got involved in oral sex. The female excited me and gave me a blow job without a condom, but she was hygienic and clean. I even tried to excite her later by inserting my fingers in her vagina. Later I noticed that I had a cut on my finger. Please advise what should I do as I am very scared. It has been 3 days and I am feeling feverish and prickly all over my body.

A:Oral sex does carry risk of infection, but the level of risk is not too high. If the cut on your finger was open, it does constitute a significant risk exposure. However you do not know that the person concerned was HIV infected, and you may not have been exposed. Post exposure prophylaxis does work if initiated soon after risk exposure, but in your case it will be 4 - 5 days by the time you get the response to your question. See a specialist in case you want an expert opinion on that avenue. Otherwise you can only hope that you have been lucky and have not been infected. The earliest test normally available is the PCR. The usual ELISA test will not give you a definitive answer until 3 months to 6 months after exposure. In the meantime avoid risk exposure and use a condom even with your regular partner for both your sakes.