November 14, 2007

Barebacking Actors Contract HIV in Britain

Three young actors have found out that they contracted HIV while filming a British bareback porn film after another actor in the film tested positive (Boyz, 10/18).

The actors—ages 18, 21 and 26—became infected after having unprotected sex with another actor who’d tested negative for HIV several weeks before filming began. However, three days after the shooting finished, the actor took another test and discovered that he was HIV positive. He told the DVD company’s director, who then alerted the other three actors—all of whom tested positive shortly thereafter.

The director is working to ensure that all of his actors are checked using 48-hour tests. However, health officials are still recommending that people use the three-month test, which allows for a window period where the virus may be undetectable in the body, which produces false results.

One HIV consultant at St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington called the 48-hour tests novel and said that while “they may show infection earlier than the conventional tests, the best way to use them isn't yet clear.”

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