Boyfriend HIV positive

Question

Hello,

I had a lung transplant nine months ago. Now I have fallen in love and my boyfriend is HIV positive. What do we have to keep in mind, and what are the risks?

Many thanks for your answer!

Answer

Hello,

many thanks for this interesting question, which I am happy to answer. To better be able to gauge the general risk of an HIV infection it would be important to know whether your boyfriend has had a so-called Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) and whether the viral load in the blood is low. If that is the case, concerning the HIV risk you will only have to strictly follow the general safe sex rules. I recommend that you and your boyfriend get a consultation about this together at a specialized HIV centre. The risk of other infections ultimately depends on the stage of the disease your boyfriend is at -- and also particularly on how high his level of so-called CD4 cells is and on whether he is already suffering from a so-called opportunistic infection. However, I assume he is doing a HAART and the viral load in the blood is low, and also that the CD4 cell count is high; if so, the risk of infection can be considered minimal (and, given you follow the safe sex rules, the same goes for the risk of infection with hepatitis B and C). Nevertheless, it seems very important to me that you and your boyfriend present at the specialized centre together, since a general answer concerning the risk of infection with HIV or a nother opportunistic infection, respectively, is impossible without knowing your boyfriend's exact HIV stage.

Kind regards,
Dr. Markus Hogardt
Lung Transplant Program
Zurich University Hospital

04.10.2011