[Question #12528] Hiv & Syphilis risk through Kissing

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7 months ago
Hello, writing from East Africa. 
1) Have deep (open mouthed) kissed the same girl on several occasions with the last time being less than 24 hours ago. During the last kissing episode she bit my tongue but I didn't notice any blood. What are the risks of std infection including hiv assuming she is positive? 
2) Would you recommend taking PEP from these encounters (deep kissing) 
3) I intend to have oral sex with her. Will this be safe to acquire STDs for both cunnilingus and fellatio? 




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Edward W. Hook M.D.
7 months ago
Welcome to the Forum.  Thanks for your questions.  I'll be glad to comment.  Open mouth kissing is not a known risk factor for HIV and is not a reason for concern.  Further, you do not know that your partner has HIV (why not ask her to test?)  As long as there was no obvious blood from the bite, I would not worry.  Thus:

1.  I would not assume she is positive.  I would ask her to test.  Even then I would have little concern
2.  No
3.  There are no proven cases of HIV which were acquired from receipt of fellatio.  The risk of HIV from cunnilingus is largely unknown but estimated to lead to infected less than once in every 10,000 exposures and, in our opinion, even that low estimate is too high.  Your plan sounds like another reason to try to arrange for her to be tested.  

I hope that this information is helpful.  EWH
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7 months ago
Many thanks for quick feedback. Would your answer be any different if a bit of blood came out on my tongue where she bit me when were kissing. Sorry for the 'what if' question.
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
7 months ago
No, it really would not.  

Again, for all the reasons I mentioned, I strongly encourage you to ask your partner to be tested. I believe that negative test results in this situation will be very comforting as you move forward in this relationship. EWH.

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