[Question #11098] Can HIV be transmitted through fingering?

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17 months ago
Hello Doctors,

I appreciate your efforts in providing such a great forum.

Can HIV be transmitted through fingering?

By fingering, I mean both anal and vaginal fingering.

I did some searching on this forum and found that in some past posts, you claimed that fingering is no risk, even with wounds on fingers. I just want to post a question to ask for some details.

I usually bite my fingernails, and I have very dry skin on my hands and fingers. Also, I constantly have hangnails, which usually leave wounds (where I can see redness) on my fingers. If I perform anal and vaginal fingering on people who have HIV, do I need to worry about HIV? What about other factors, such as recent cuts and scrapes?
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17 months ago
The second question I would like to ask concerns the impact of jewelry on HIV transmission risk.

If I lick and suck the breasts and nipples of individuals with nipple piercings, nipple rings, nipple bars, etc., should I be concerned about HIV transmission?

Similarly, if I French kiss individuals with lip piercings, lip rings, etc., should I be concerned about HIV?

Lastly, if I perform oral sex on females who have various types of jewelry in their genital area, should I be concerned about HIV? I understand that oral sex poses a very low risk, so I am inquiring whether the presence of items like clitoral glans piercings and hood piercings alters that risk.
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
17 months ago
Welcome to our Forum and thank you for your information.  I'll be glad to provide some information.

Hand to genital contact, including genital and rectal masturbation are classified as no risk sexual activities by the CDC, the WHO and experts in the field. This is true even when partners get each others' genital secretions on each other.  The presence of jewelry or piercing does not change this.  having bitten nails or scrapes on your fingers does not change the no risk nature of masturbation.  Similarly, frottage (body to body rubbing) is a also a form of masturbation with no risk for acquistion of HIV.  Therefore there is no need for concern or for testing with any of the sorts of contacts mentioned above.

Kissing, including French kissing, even in the presence of piercings, dental or gum disease, or oral sores is likewise not known to result in HIV transmission.  This is also true to kissing breasts and other body parts.  

HIV is transmitted only through penetrative sexual contact and not all penetrative sexual contact is risky.  There are NO cases of HIV proven to have been acquired from receipt of oral sex (fellatio) and activities such as cunnilingus are estimated to result in transmission of HIV following contact with an untreated HIV infected partner less than once in every 10,000 exposures.  Other sorts of penetrative sexual contact have somewhat higher estimated risks- for instance vaginal sexual contact is estimated to result in transmission about once in every 2500 unprotected contacts with untreated HIV infected partners.

I hope this information is helpful.  EWH
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