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STD and HIV Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
Amsterdam Red Light District FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Things to know before visiting the Red Light District:
Prostitution is legal, but the Netherlands government does NOT require STD nor HIV testing for the women and men are prostitutes. The government does offer free healthcare to these people and all of it's citizens, but it up to them to see that they are taken care of. The reasoning is that required test would scare away the ones who need it the most.
Are STD and HIV tests required for Amsterdam's Red Light District?
No, tests for STDs are not mandatory. But since they generally use condoms and virtually everyone has health insurance, which includes such tests, and for those people who don't have insurance (illegal immigrants primarily) there are free clinics, it is not relevant either. There is no reason not to be tested. There are a small number HIV positive prostitutes working (as there are HIV positive people everywhere), although condoms are used in all cases the risk is considered to be small, but there is a risk invovled. Anything they would do with you, they would do with anyone.
According to the Mr A. de Graaf Foundation, Netherlands Prostitution FAQ, and Reviews and guide to Amsterdam RLD
What does the Red Light District look like? Can you take pictures?
Taking pictures is not illegal, but it is something you don't do. The "pimps," or men that operate the different ethnic districts WILL break or take your camera if they see you try to take a picture. Go here for Red Light District Pictures
If I visit the Red Light District wher can I get information once in Amsterdam?
In the Red Light District of Amsterdam there is an information center called Prostitution Information Centre (PIC) Although the online site does not have an overwhelming amount of information it is worth checking out in Amsterdam if you visit the RLD. Also there is more than just sex and drugs in Amsterdam, there are many invaluable historical sites (the house of Anne Frank is good) and musuems.
How Effective Are Condoms?
{Context:} It is not established whether the condom is as effective at preventing heterosexual transmission of HIV as it is for preventing conception. An overall estimate of condom effectiveness for HIV prevention is needed. Methods: Information on condom usage and HIV serology was obtained from 25 published studies of serodiscordant heterosexual couples. Condom usage was classified as always (in 100% of acts of intercourse), sometimes (1-99%, 0-99% or 1-100%) or never (0%). Studies were stratified by design, direction of transmission and condom usage group. Condom efficacy was calculated from the HIV transmission rates for always-users and never-users.
{Results:} For always-users, 12 cohort samples yielded a consistent HIV incidence of 0.9 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval, 0.4-1.8). For 11 cohort samples of never-users, incidence was estimated at 6.8 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval, 4.4-10.1) for male-to-female transmission, 5.9 per 100 (95% confidence interval, 1.5-15.1) for female-to-male transmission and 6.7 per 100 (95% confidence interval, 4.5-9.6) in samples that specified the direction of transmission. Generally, the condom's effectiveness at preventing HIV transmission is estimated to be 87%, but it may be as low as 60% or as high as 96%.
{Conclusions:} Consistent use of condoms provides protection from HIV. The level of protection approximates 87%, with a range depending upon the incidence among condom nonusers. Thus, the condom's efficacy at reducing heterosexual transmission may be comparable to or slightly lower than its effectiveness at preventing pregnancy. (From Family Planning Perspectives: Volume 31, No. 6, November/December 1999)
This is quoted from: www.agi-usa.org/pubs/journals/3127299.html
What are the symptoms for HIV?
There are flu like symptoms, but there are laso the people who get infected and have none. The ONLY way to know is to be tested. States like California, offer free testing to the low income. All you have to do is go into/or call a clinic, and they will tell you a place where you cam get free testing.
Calfornia residents have free testing through:
Family PACT: 1-800-942-1054 or your local Healthcare provider.
What are the chances/ probability that I have/could get HIV?
It depends how often you put yourself at a high risk or low risk situation. There are so many factors, the only way to know is to be tested.
What are testing centers like?
They vary. Many are healthcare providers, so the people around are there to get treated for an illness or a check up, and they assume you are too. The only ones who know what you are there for is the doctor and the person who takes your blood. You have the option not to use your real name, so don't worry about that. The government and public want as many people to get tested, so they make is easy, anonymous, safe, and easy. At colleges (for enrolled college students) the testing is free quick and anonmous, and they too are health centers, so knows the reason why you are there.
How do I get the results?
Due to U.S. law doctors are the only ones who can see and give you your results. It takes usually a week maybe a week and a half. For HIV testing you sign a waiver saying that you know the testing might cause stress and the results might affect you life. They offering free counseling, even avaible on the interest, to deal with the stress and pressure of the results. Bottom line is the fear of not knowing is much worse than any results a doctor can give you.
I think I was exposed to an STD and/or HIV, how long should I wait before being tested?
For HIV it is known as the six month window. Although many people develop the virus in their blood in 25 days, it can take up to six months. The Center for Disease Control recommends you wait six months to know "for sure" the results of that encounter. But you should get tested as often, and when you feel like.
This is from another website:
Three to six months from your last unsafe sexual experience is the amount of time you need to wait to get an HIV test. Depending on the source, you will get differing opinions about this "window" of time between infection and HIV antibody detection in a blood test. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends six months, some city and state health departments advise waiting two months, while the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), the oldest and largest HIV and AIDS service organization in the world, suggests a three-month waiting period. Alice thinks that six months is a long time to wait for HIV test results, and a negative or positive test result three months after possible HIV exposure can be considered reliable, although not 100 percent accurate. Early detection of HIV/AIDS is critical, in light of all of the promising new treatments available.
If results from the standard HIV test (known as Elisa) are positive, a Western Blot test is used to confirm. Some testing agencies and health departments routinely run simultaneous Elisa and Western Blot tests. In addition, a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test is a sophisticated and expensive process that measures HIV in infected cells. This test is rarely used in conjunction with standard HIV detection (as in your situation, for example), but doctors do employ it to measure the amount of virus in an HIV-infected person, known as viral load. PCR allows quick monitoring of the effects of drug treatments for HIV and AIDS, such as the new protease inhibitors which have reduced viral load in many patients infected with HIV.
As for your weight loss, fatigue, and sleepiness, they could easily be stress-induced (i.e., angst about your health, the grind of graduate school, etc.). Symptoms related to AIDS can take years to manifest, so their absence is not the best indicator of HIV status. You know the safer-sex routine, but here's something for you and other readers to think about: one way to prevent some of these pre- and post-sex worries is to think and talk about HIV and safer sex before you become sexually intimate with someone: what will you do, what won't you do? What might you do more, or less, of? Having a strategy is one more way to ward off post-sex anxiety.
Here are the numbers of organizations and agencies you can talk to about your concerns:
GMHC AIDS Hotline
(212) 807-6655
National AIDS Hotline
(800) 342-AIDS / -2437
Columbia's Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS)
x4-2468
This statement was quoted from Columbia University
From another website concerning the same question: Because of the antibody window period, it takes anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks for most infected people to seroconvert, or develop antibodies to the virus. Very rarely, it can take longer. This is why it is recommended to wait six months, so that you can be absolutely sure that the test is not a false negative because your body had not yet developed antibodies to HIV. It is these antibodies that the test looks for to determine whether you have been infected with HIV. There is also a special test, called the detuned assay that not generally available except to researchers. This test can determine whether you were infected within the last 129 days.
This statement was quoted fromHIV Insite
What are the symptoms for STD's, and what are good internet resources about these topics?
There very many symptoms for different Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and in many cases there are none. You must be tested to know. A few good resources with simple easy formats are the U.S. Department of Health, City of Milwaukee Health Department, HIV testing FAQ , Teen Information about STD'sand http://teenadvice.about.com/cs/stdsymptoms/
To see pictures of different STD's go here. Warning these pictures are graphic!
Is it true the CDC said the failure rate of condoms is 17% for heterosexual couples attempting to prevent pregnancy? Would the failure rate of condoms for couples attempting to prevent HIV transmission be higher than the failure rate of condoms to prevent pregnancy?
A good explanation on the failure of condoms in relation to pregnacy and HIV:
When we calculate the failure rate for condoms, we look at the pregnancy rate per year that occurs in couples who use condoms. For latex condoms, the typical failure rate is about 12%. However, if condoms are used every time and used correctly every time , the failure rate falls to approximately 2 to 3%. Even when condoms are used perfectly, there is still a 2 to 3% failure rate, since condoms will sometimes break, even when used correctly. Nothing man-made works 100% of the time. However, most of the time condoms fail, is either because they're not used every time, or they're not used correctly. If a condom remains intact, and is used correctly, it will protect against both pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD's) including HIV.
Several recent studies looked at couples in which one partner was infected with HIV, and the other wasn't (also known as discordant couples). One study looked at the infection rate of HIV-negative women having sex with HIV-positiv e men. In couples who did not use condoms every time, 12% of the women eventually became infected themselves. In couples who used condoms every time, less than 2% of the women became infected. In another study looking at positive persons having sex with negative persons, when condoms were not used every time, 10% of the negative partners ultimately became infected. In the couples who were always using condoms, none of the negative persons in the study became infected. These studies show that condoms will protect against HIV, but the key is that they be used consistently and correctly.
Failure rates can actually vary from one brand of condom to another. Consumer Reports magazine did a brand-by-brand comparison of condoms in their May 1995 issue, with an update in the January 1996 issue. This is perhaps the best review I've seen of failure rates for condoms. Because Consumer Reports does not accept any advertising, they were able to be totally objective at rating one brand of condom versus another. Consumer Reports is available at most libraries, and is also available through several online services, including America Online, CompuServe, Dialog, Nexis and Prodigy.
As long as condoms are used consistently and correctly, they will significantly reduce (but not eliminate) the risk for pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD's). But they will never be 100% protection, but they can significantly reduce one's risk. As long as a condom remains intact, and does not leak or fall off, a person would be protected against pregnancy and STD's.
If a man does not use a condom, HIV can enter his bloodstream through microscopic cuts and abrasions that normally occur on the head of the penis. These microscopic openings are a result of the normal friction that normally occurs during intercourse, and are too small to visually see, but large enough for HIV to enter. These small cuts/abrasions are most likely to occur on the head of the penis, since this is made of mucous membranes, which tend to abrade easier than regular skin. Also, if a man were to have any open lesions due to other STD's (like herpes, syphilis etc.), it would be much easier for HIV to enter his bloodstream.
So in summary, condoms used consistently and correctly will significantly reduce one's risk of pregnancy and STD's. If they remain intact, they act as excellent barriers against pregnancy and infections. But the key to their success is that they be used every time, and used correctly.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact the Centers for Disease Control at 1-800-342-2437 (Nationwide).
This is quoted from The Body
