POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: Uaeman on November 22, 2011, 11:43:12 am
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I have been reading your forum and note you have a very clear opinion on the risk of HIV transmission as a result of cunnilingus. I had a brief encounter with a CSW that only included unprotected oral both ways. I dipped my tongue inside her vagina very briefly. There was no blood present.. I note your comments about how saliva eliminates any virus that may be present, but before I went with this CSW, I remember my mouth being very dry.
Would the wall of my mouth still have enough defense to prevent any infection passing to me ? I have had a mild sore throat (more dry than sore) after about 4 week post exposure, but nothing else.
Do you still suggest that this was a no risk activity ? Can I continue to have unprotected sex with my long term partner ?
Your advice will be welcomed.
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Uae,
Going down on a woman is not a risk for hiv infection. Nobody has ever been infected this way and you will not be the first.
Here's what you need to know in order to avoid hiv infection:
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 sexually transmitted infections together.
To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with an STI. Sex without a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.
Have a look through the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.
ALTHOUGH YOU DO NOT NEED TO TEST FOR HIV OVER CUNNILINGUS, 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.
Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!
Ann
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Thanks for the quick response.
So the dry mouth / lack of saliva before my encounter is nothing to worry about and I should just move on and get on with life ?
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Uae,
You have nothing to worry about. Yes, you should move on with your life.
Hiv transmission doesn't stand a chance of happening via female genitals to mouth - there are just too many obstacles on the oral route.
The first obstacle is the mouth itself. The mouth is a veritable fortress, standing against all sorts of pathogens we come into contact with every minute of our lives. It's a very hostile environment and saliva has been shown to contain over a dozen different proteins and enzymes that damage hiv.
Hiv is a very fragile virus - literally. Its outer surface doesn't take kindly to changes in its preferred environment; slight changes in temperature, moisture content and pH levels all damage the outer surface. Importantly, it needs this outer surface to be intact before it can latch onto a few, very specific cell types and infect.
Which leads to the second obstacle. Hiv can only latch onto certain types of cells, cells which are not found in abundance in the mouth.
The third obstacle to transmission this way is having hiv present in the first place. The female secretion where hiv has been shown to be present is the cervicovaginal fluid. This fluid is actually a thick mucus that covers and protects the cervix.
The fluid a woman produces when sexually excited comes from the Bartholin's glands, located on either side of the vaginal opening. I have yet to discover one shred of evidence (and believe me, I've looked) that shows this lubricating fluid to have any more hiv present than other bodily secretions such as saliva, sweat or tears. Saliva, sweat and tears are NOT infectious fluids.
So there you have it. Once the results of the serodiscordant studies started rolling in, what we know about hiv transmission on the cellular level was validated. The only people who were getting infected were those who had unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse. Period. One of the three studies went on for ten years and involved hundreds of couples. That's a lot of nookie.
Ann
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Thanks Ann. Appreciate your quick and candid response(s).