Donating blood

[Anon]

I heard that if you donate blood it is tested for various diseases including HIV and that they notifiy you if you tested positive for any of the diseases.  Is this a way to know one's HIV status if they don't feel that they need any counseling?

[RapidRod]

NO this is not a way to be tested. You NEVER use a blood bank for your personal testing. If you would read the blood banks website it will tell you also. When you fill out a questionair it will also tell you.

[Anon]

Alright, I didn't think so, but i was just making sure.

[Coffeechick88]

I heard that if you donate blood it is tested for various diseases including HIV and that they notifiy you if you tested positive for any of the diseases.  Is this a way to know one's HIV status if they don't feel that they need any counseling?

Yes they test for various diseases, but to purposely donate blood for that reason is against the law.  Not only that, but it is an unconscionable action and I do not know how people who do that can live with themselves.  The test they use will pick up a lot of false positives in order to reduce the risk of a true positive going through.  They send you a letter and tell you to be tested with the standard serology tests to see if you really are positive. Though even if you are a false positive you will be deferred indefinitely from giving blood.  These tests are not perfect, though.  There is always the possibility for error.

[Anon]

Okay, thanks for letting me know.  I'll be sure to pass it on.

[Andy Velez]

Re-enter the question here with which you began another thread. For reader continuity, please keep your questions in this one thread.

[Anon]

Okay, so my next question was more of a general one.  I was wondering if there were any statistics for the likelihood of getting HIV through giving a blowjob (like 1 in however many thousand).  Also, are there any actual documented cases of someone catching HIV through fellatio?  Is testing necessary if someone performs oral sex on a guy once or twice and hasn't done it since?

Thanks

[Ann]

Anon,

Stats like that are generally meaningless when you try to apply them to individuals and I personally do not find them useful for our discussions here.

There have been long-term studies of couples where one is positive and one is negative. In the couples who used condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, but not for oral activities, not one of the negative partners became infected with hiv. Not one. This shows us two things. One, condoms are very effective for the prevention of hiv transmission. Two, oral sex is much lower risk than previously believed. We now have the evidence that oral sex is a very low risk activity where hiv transmission is concerned.

While there is a mainly theoretical hiv risk to giving a blowjob, I see no reason to test specifically over one or two incidents. You do need to be aware, however, that it is entirely possible - and much more likely - to become infected with oral gonorrhea, syphilis or herpes through giving a blowjob.

You need to be using condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, every time, no exceptions until such time as you are in a securely monogamous relationship where you have both tested for ALL STIs together. To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with a sexually transmitted infection.

Have a look through the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.

Anyone who is sexually active should be having a full sexual health care check-up, including but not limited to hiv testing, at least once a year and more often if unprotected intercourse occurs.

If you aren't already having regular, routine check-ups, now is the time to start. As long as you make sure condoms are being used for intercourse, you can fully expect your routine hiv tests to return with negative results. Don't forget to always get checked for all the other sexually transmitted infections as well, because they are MUCH easier to transmit than hiv.

Ann

[Anon]

Thanks for the info--it's interesting how people seem to worry most about getting HIV through giving head when evidence seems to show that it is in fact far, far less likely than with any other sexual act.