What to do after a sexapade?

“I had unprotected sex with a sex worker. What should I do?”

Dr Diwakar Tejaswi, a general physician from Bihar, is so used to this question.

Casual sex is becoming more and more common, says Tejaswi. “There is commercial sex activity going on near Station Road and several other places in Bihar. People who come here for interviews or exams and those in transit indulge in sex,” he says. After having casual sex, they start panicking. They might know that unprotected sex may cause HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and so they look for preventive measures, says Tejaswi.

In the event of an exposure, one must take post-exposure prophylaxis (anti-retroviral medicines). This helps prevent HIV infection. “Post-exposure prophylaxis should be taken within 72 hours of the exposure, preferably within 12 hours, under the guidance of a doctor,” says Tejaswi.

Also, get an ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) test done to confirm you are not infected. During the window period, the presence of the virus may not be detected in the ELISA test, even though it is present in the body. So, better get this test done two weeks to three months after the exposure. The ELISA test costs Rs 250. It is offered free of cost in government medical colleges, district hospitals and anti-retroviral treatment centres.

The polymerase chain reaction DNA tests (a technique widely used in molecular biology for analysing and testing DNA) can be taken 10 days after the encounter. It costs around Rs 2500.

Many people are interested in getting themselves tested for HIV, says Dr Tulika Chandra, head, Department of Transfusion Medicine, King George’s Medical University in Uttar Pradesh. “When we introduced NAT (Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing), a lot of people came over wanting to get themselves tested,” says Chandra. NAT is a sensitive test. With it, the window period comes down to 11-15 days.

“We offer NAT free of cost for blood donors,” says Chandra.