Can a married couple have different HIV results even though they have unprotected sex with each other?
HIV infection is not transmitted each time a person has sexual intercourse. Especially if the infected person has a good immune function, few symptoms, and does not have genital ulcers, it may be several years before HIV is transmitted to the spouse. In fact, generally more couples in a community have different (discordant) results, where one is positive and the other negative, than where both are HIV infected. The best way for couples to know if they are safe is to go for voluntary counseling and testing as a couple, where they learn their HIV results together and can protect themselves if they are discordant.
