[Question #2896] Follow up to #2879
93 months ago
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Hi sorry but I forgot to mention I had one exposure that happened two weeks before I took the hiv test so obviously it didn't cover it it was oral both ways I performed oral on a girl for about 30 seconds and she performed oral on me unprotected do I need to test for that exposure?
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
93 months ago
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Welcome back to the forum, but sorry to see you felt the need. I'll be answering your question this time, but I reviewed your recent thread with Dr. Hook. I agree with all he said.
Oral sex is risk free for HIV, or so close to zero risk that you can ignore it. There has never been a proved case of HIV transmission mouth to penis or by performing cunnilingus (oral-vaginal contact). And anyway, the chance any particular sexually active woman has HIV averges less than 1 in a thousand, so it is unlikely your partner is infected.
Best wishes. Let me know if anything isn't clear -- HHH, MD
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93 months ago
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Thank you I was just wondering since some websites list oral sex as an hiv risk what would it take to get hiv through mouth to penis?
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
93 months ago
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Most websites make no distinction between theoretical risks and proved risks; and also do not clarify the major differences between exposure types. For example, few of them (if any) make it clear that anal sex is higher risk than vaginal, and vaginal far higher than oral. It cannot be said oral sex is zero risk, but it remains true that there has never been a scientifically proved reported case of HIV transmission mouth to penis; and one calculation (by CDC) estimates a risk of mouth to penis transmission at 1 chance in 20,000. That's equivalent to receiving oral sex by infected partners once daily for 55 years before transmission might be likely. In general, exposure to an infected person's mouth or saliva is risk free; as another example, there are no proved cases transmitted by kissing. (Among other reasons, saliva kills HIV.) ---
93 months ago
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Thanks so in your opinion there's no need for additional testing if the only exposure was oral? One more thing is there a need to get tested for gonorreha of the throat after performing oral on a woman? Thank you so much
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
93 months ago
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The chance of oral gonorrhea after a single episode of cunnilingus is extremely low and I generally don't recommend testing after any single exposure, for gonorrhea, HIV, or anything else. However, I cannot say the risk is truly zero, and you are free to be tested if having a negative test result will give you more reassurance than my expert assurance. If somehow I were in your situation, I would not do it. But I'm not you. If you wish, have a throat swab for gonorrhea (valid any time) and, in a few weeks, blood tests for HIV and syphilis. You definitely can expect negative results.
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That completes the two follow-up comments and replies included with each thread and so ends this discussion. Since it's your second on these topics, let's make it the last --OK?
I hope the discussion has beeh helpful. Best wishes and stay safe.