Sex and std's

[AngelOfMusic]

so, after seeing RENT recently, I was wondering: if someone has, say, AIDS, can they have sex with someone else with AIDS? in RENT, they were all frustrated because they had to do the safe sex thing, but pretty much everyone already had aids, so why would they have to worry about it?

[ShibbOleth]

Originally from National AIDS Treatment Advocacy Program
A Patient with HIV-1 Superinfection: safe sex, vaccine implications

“…superinfection may precipitate more rapid progression of disease. Infected and noninfected persons should therefore exercise the same degree of vigilance to prevent HIV-1 exposure. With sexual activity seemingly increasing among persons with HIV-1 infection, this is a public health message that needs to be broadcast loud and clear…” editorial below

This study and others strongly suggest it is possible to get reinfected with a 2nd HIV virus after having HIV. This case and others appear to show the second infection resulting from sex, but I suspect that reinfection can also occur from IVDU exposure. Interestingly, this patient also acquired HCV after being HCV negative for years. HCV appeared to be acquired around the time of the 2nd HIV infection or recently prior to the HIV infection. This study report does not address how or when HCV was contracted but the insufficient information available leads me to speculate that perhaps this patient may have contracted HCV and HIV sexually from the same person.

Note: Underlining is mine.
There are a number of HIV strains and sub-types (I think it’s 2 known strains and 10 or so subtypes), so it’s possible you could suppress one and still have problems with another. There are a couple of virologists on the borders, if memory serves me (CRorex, are you still out there?), so maybe one will pop in with a better explanation.