Like all sexual activity, oral sex carries some risk. This is particularly the case when one partner is known to be infected with HIV, when either partner's HIV status is not known, and/or when one or the other partner is not monogamous or injects drugs. Numerous studies have demonstrated that oral sex can result in the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
Abstaining from oral, anal, and vaginal sex altogether or having sex only with a mutually monogamous, uninfected partner are the only ways that individuals can be completely protected from the sexual transmission of HIV.
A Common Practice
Oral sex involves giving or receiving oral stimulation (i.e. sucking or licking) to the penis, the vagina, and/or the anus. Fellatio is the technical term used to describe oral contact with the penis. Cunnilingus is the technical term which describes oral-vaginal sex. Anilingus refers to oral-anal contact.
Studies indicate that oral sex is commonly practiced by sexually active male-female and same-gender couples of various ages, including adolescents. Although there are only limited national data about how often adolescents engage in oral sex, some data suggest that many adolescents who engage in oral sex do not consider it to be sex; therefore they may use oral sex as an option to experience sex while still, in their minds, remaining abstinent.
Moreover, many consider oral sex to be a safe or no-risk sexual practice. In a national survey of teens conducted for The Kaiser Family Foundation, 26 percent of sexually active 15- to 17-year-olds surveyed responded that one "cannot become infected with HIV by having unprotected oral sex." An additional 15 percent didn't know whether or not one could become infected in that manner.
There is Risk
The risk of HIV transmission from an infected partner through oral sex is much smaller than the risk of HIV transmission from anal or vaginal sex. Because of this, measuring the exact risk of HIV transmission as a result of oral sex is very difficult. In addition, since most sexually active individuals practice oral sex in addition to other forms of sex, such as vaginal and/or anal sex, when transmission occurs, it is difficult to determine whether or not it occurred as a result of oral sex or other more risky sexual activities. Finally, several co-factors can increase the risk of HIV transmission through oral sex, including oral ulcers, bleeding gums, genital sores, and the presence of other STDs.
Scientists have documented HIV infection transmission with oral sex. Although the risk is many times smaller than with anal or vaginal sex, HIV has been transmitted to receptive partners through fellatio, even in cases when insertive partners didn't ejaculate. The risk of HIV transmission during cunnilingus and anilingus is extremely low compared to anal or vaginal sex, but a few cases have been linked to these type of sex.
To ascertain the extent of HIV transmitted by oral sex among men who have sex with men who were identified with HIV within 12 months of becoming infected, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded the Options Project at the University of California, San Francisco. The Options Project found that 7.8 percent (8 of 102) of recently infected men who had sex with other men were probably infected through oral sex. Most of these men believed that the risk was minimal or non-existent.
The study results emphasize that any type of sexual activity with an infected person is a risk of HIV transmission.
Other STDs
Scientists have documented a number of other sexually transmitted diseases that have also been transmitted through oral sex. Herpes, syphilis, gonorrhea, genital warts (HPV), intestinal parasites (amebiasis), and hepatitis A are examples of STDs which can be transmitted during oral sex with an infected partner.
Reduce Your Risk
The consequences of HIV infection are life-long, life-threatening, and extremely serious. If you choose to participate in fellatio, you can lower the risk by using latex condoms every time. For cunnilingus or anilingus, plastic food wrap, a condom cut open, or a dental dam can serve as a physical barrier to prevent transmission of HIV and many other STDs.
Because anal and vaginal sex are much riskier and because most individuals who engage in unprotected oral sex also engage in unprotected anal and/or vaginal sex, the exact proportion of HIV infections attributable of oral sex alone is not known, but is likely to be small. This has led some people to believe that oral sex is completely safe. It is not. |
