If you contract the HIV virus, is it possible to contract MORE of the virus by continuing to have sexual intercourse with someone who also has HIV or AIDS?

Lil

In other words, is it safe to have unprotected sex with someone who has HIV if you already have HIV yourself? There is no right answer to this question. On the one hand, you could say that since you already have HIV, what is the difference? On the other, there are many strains of HIV in the population, and if you did not give or receive HIV from your current partner, the two of you probably have different strains. I usually tell my patients that they should still practice safer sex (use condoms) to avoid acquiring a new strain of the virus, which may make the infection more difficult to treat.

It is true, however, that once infected with HIV, one is probably at least somewhat protected against a new infection. Most patients with HIV have evidence of only one strain in their body. It has also proven difficult to purposely infect a chimpanzee with a second strain. However, no one believes that it is impossible to be infected with a second strain. What happens if you are doing well on your HIV treatments and your partner infects you with a second strain that is resistant to the drugs you are on? I could not find any published reports of this occurring, but it is probably possible.

In addition, you could acquire several other sexually transmitted diseases from your partner, such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, herpes or syphilis. Certainly, these infections are not as important as HIV, but they could cause serious health problems. Heterosexual couples should consider the importance of condoms in helping to avoid unwanted pregnancy as well.

So I tell my patients that there is some risk to practicing unsafe sex in such circumstances. I advise them not to do it. Some patients agree with me that the risk is too high, but frankly, most do not.