Carlos – Part 1: The Chat – Risk Review
Carlos did not bring condoms with him. What if it turns out his hookup doesn’t have a condom? Also, Carlos did not talk about HIV status. Why not?
Carlos intends to use condoms to protect his health, which is great! But, why do you think he just assumed the guy is negative? Sometimes we don’t want to kill the mood by raising questions that may turn out to have difficult answers.
This is good. Carlos knows that he’s protected against HIV by PrEP, regardless of his hookup’s HIV status or if he has condoms. PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, is an anti-HIV medication taken to decrease a person’s chances of getting infected by HIV if they were exposed to the virus.
However, PrEP must be taken consistently as prescribed to work. And, it doesn’t protect against other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) like chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, or HPV (human papillomavirus). People on PrEP should still use condoms to prevent getting other STIs and to have a second layer of protection against HIV.
Regardless, Carlos should have brought his own condoms before leaving, just in case.
Let’s see what happens next!