Missouri man has sex with 300 people; infects dozens with HIV; told them he was HIV-

So this article tells the story of a now-35 year old man, David Magnum, who has been HIV positive since 2003, and who has estimated having unprotected sex with over 300 people since 2003.

At least one of his partners, after being asked by Magnum to bareback, specifically asked Magnum if he had any diseases, and Magnum said no (knowing full well this was false.) That person is now HIV+.

Dozens, possibly hundreds of others are now HIV+ as a result of their bareback sex with Magnum. Most of Magnum's partners he met off of Craigslist.

I post this as a reminder: We have a lot of people here who talk about hookups on Craigslist or other hookup sites, and probably a few dozen posts of people who, in the heat of the moment, had unprotected sex with someone they didn't know and had met off of Craigslist or another hookup site.

It takes only a few moments to transmit the HIV virus, and, while no longer a death sentence for most, it is still a lifetime of expensive medications, nausea, medical complications, and treatments. And it's completely preventable, by the simple act of using condoms each and every time you have sex, no matter the circumstances, and by perhaps being a little more thoughtful about who you hook up with and how often you do so.

 

Re: Missouri man has sex with 300 people; infects dozens with HIV; told them he was H

And that's just it... most people who are HIV+ "look healthy" and would be utterly indistinguishable from someone who doesn't have it. And as described in the news story, he freely admits to barebacking with everyone, and even to lying about his status, because "he was afraid of being rejected."

So the moral is, even when someone says they're disease free... you can't always trust them. And 25% of the people currently infected with HIV don't even know they're inftected, according to recent statistics.

BiPenguin: It's illegal here as well. The guy is in jail on $50,000 bail on felony charges. In California, it's attempted murder.

 

Re: Missouri man has sex with 300 people; infects dozens with HIV; told them he was H

Well, if we're talking about HIV, even going with someone to the testing site, watching him take the 10 minute test, and seeing the test results for yourself would not be a reliable indicator that he is HIV-. Why? Because of the latency time.

All of the standard screening tests are looking for antibodies to the virus, not the virus itself. When someone is newly infected, it can take anywhere from three to twelve weeks after exposure for that person's immune system to develop antibodies to the virus. And worse, at the point when the person is first infected, the virus is replicating with enormous speed, because there are no antibodies to restrict it... so viral loads can become very high very quickly, increasing the risk of transmitting the virus to someone else.

So, in other words... when someone is first infected, they will pretty quickly have very high viral load, which will make the risk of transmitting the virus to someone else much, much higher than after antibodies form... and all the while, that person, if they get tested, will show negative on the typical HIV screening test, because the antibodies haven't yet formed.

So unless you go with someone to get tested, see the result, and then lock them in a room for 90 days, and get a second test at the end of that time... you have no way of knowing if that person is HIV-, or if they are recently infected, at high risk of infecting you, and testing negative because they have no antibodies yet.

There is a more expensive test (about $350 a pop) that tests for actual viral load, that is pretty accurate (about 97%, i think) at about 21 days. But due to cost, it's not widely used.

Finally... think about this: Anyone who is willing to have random sex with someone they just met off of Craigslist or one of the many hookup apps... is also going to be at much higher risk of having HIV (not to mention syphillis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, herpes, or another STI) simply because they are likely doing this regularly with others... and unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of people who regularly hook up do not always play safe, in spite of what they may tell you.

I've had many conversations with young people who have fairly frequent sex where I ask about whether they always play safe. Almost invariably, the answer is "Yes." I ask again, saying "So, every time you have sex, in every situation, you always use condoms?" And most of them still say "Yes." And then I ask a third time, usually something like "So there's no circumstance in the past 4 or 5 years where you haven't used condoms when you've had sex?" At which point... most of them admit that they've had unsafe sex. And usually, at that point, the dam bursts and they admit that they have unsafe sex occasionally, fairly often, or sometimes, most of the time. Sadly, in spite of in-depth conversations, education, and nonjudgmental encouragement about the importance of playing safe... a significant number of those people, a few months to a few years later... are HIV+. And it's needless.

They're just convinced that it will never happen to them, or they don't do it enough for it to be a risk, or that they only have sex with "healthy looking people" or they "trust their partner, who wouldn't lie to them."

I don't like to preach about this, but it is just such an important topic that I feel like continuing to have this conversation regularly will help at least a few people to think twice when they're in that situation of making that decision, and take the extra 30 seconds to put the condom on... and potentially save a lifetime of difficulty in the process.