[Question #10195] Oral Sex and HIV

25 months ago

I met a guy on the Internet. he told me that he always does protective sex (which I don't know whether it's true or not).and this leads me to the worrying of HIV.

I do oral sex for him (my mouth to his penis) without condoms but not for a long period maybe 20-30 seconds (I'm not sure). and he didn't ejaculate in my mouth but it may have some pre-cum.

Does this event put me at to the risk of HIV infection? (I quite worry about it).

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

25 months ago

Welcome back. This also was a nearly zero risk exposure in regard to HIV. The chance of HIV infection is higher for the oral partner in oral sex than for the penile partner. But even here, it's extremely rare. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published an estimate that performing fellatio on an infected male has one chance in 10,000 of being infected. That is equivalent to giving BJs to infected men once daily for 27 years before transmission of the virus might be likely. And that is for prolonged exposure to completion, with ejaculation in the mouth; the exposure you describe must be still lower risk. And you describe a partner who probably does not have HIV.

I suggest you do your best to not obsess about any individual exposure of the sorts you describe now and in your previous thread. Do not be tested every time. A better approach is to just have a routine HIV test from time to time: depending on how often you have such events, maybe every 3 months or every 6 months. Also, because you are overly anxious about HIV, why not just plan on using condoms consistently, even for low risk exposures like oral sex?

In any case, it should not be necessary to come to this forum every time you have an exposure that worries you. You can expect pretty much the same answers every time. Thank you for your understanding.

HHH, MD

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25 months ago

Thanks for your kind answers, I know that I’m overly worrying person.

And this would be my last question

1) as you said that the risk is quite low for Oral Sex to transmit HIVs, Is there any reported case that transmit Hiv via Oral sexs? Or it’s just theoretical possible but never occur before. (Like hitting by a meteorite which is possible but I never known who was hit by it before)

2) If you were me would you continue Oral Sex without condom or Should I stop this behavior?

3) no test is needed from this events right? But regularly test (every 6 months - 1 years) is recommended

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

25 months ago

1) There are well documented cases of HIV transmitted penis to mouth; it rare but it happens from time to time. There are claimed cases mouth to penis, but few if any scientifically confirmed. "Theoretically possible" and risk similar to being struck by a meteorite are good ways to describe the risk.

2) Your sexual safety decisions are entirely your own. Many people never use condoms for oral sex exposures and some always do.

3) This is exactly what I recommended above.

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25 months ago

Thanks you. Dr.Handsfield

My local counsellor in Thailand also said that it's "no risk for transmission if No Cut or Sore or Bleeding in your mouth".
Does it true?, I think I have no cut/sore/bleeding in my mouth, would it make the risk lower?

and from your sentence "There are well documented cases of HIV transmitted penis to mouth;"
What is the frequent of well document case (I mean how much of this case happen).

25 months ago

CDC also said that it's little to no risk for Oral sex (both of giving and receiving) For transmission to occur, something very unusual would have to happen.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

25 months ago

There are no data on altered risk level because of sores in the mouth. It is reasonable to suppose they might elevate the risk, but probably only a very little bit. Oral sex is nearly risk free, and of course there must have been millions of oral exposures in the presence of oral sores, bleeding gums, etc -- and still no known cases. So I really do not believe it makes a difference one way or the other.

There are too few known cases of transmission of HIV by oral exposure to accurately calculate the statistical likelihood. I have already given you the best estimate available; see the opening comments in my first reply above. And read the rest of that reply as well: you should not be at all worried about HIV on account of your recent exposure!

That concludes this thread. Please note the forum policy about repeated question on the same topic. This should be your last one about oral sex and HIV risk. You can be sure any similar questions in the future will have exactly the same replies. Thank you for your understanding. I do hope the discussions have been useful. Best wishes and stay safe.

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