STI and HIV info - Play Safe Forum Topics

This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 3 months ago by CookieMonster.

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September 14, 2017 at 6:25 am #106468

iabhi1227
Participant

Hello all,

Need advice on the below random questions

1. Can a person (Male) gets infected with HIV, by having unprotected Oral Sex with a Sex Worker ?
I googled a lot about this question and all the webpages suggests is – its extremely rare to get infected with HIV by having Oral Sex. What I am interested is – is it possible in theory.
As per the records if a person is having Oral Sex, he/she is likely to follow intercourse (unprotected). So its hard identify – how does he/she gets impacted ?

2. How common can a person might be infected with STI, by having protected vaginal sex ?

September 14, 2017 at 8:34 am #111676

DeftRat
Participant

Hi @iabhi1227, these are some really interesting questions, thanks for asking them.

From what I know, as you have already pointed out, it is extremely rare to contract HIV through oral sex. There is not enough of the virus in saliva for you to contract HIV from receiving oral sex. So this is not possible not only from a sex worker, but from anyone who is HIV positive. I think there have been some cases reported where people have contracted HIV through oral sex but after having major oral surgery and there has been large open wounds in their mouths, and this is from semen in the mouth, so someone giving oral sex. Otherwise there is not much chance of HIV transmission through oral sex. @Nurse_Nettie, please correct me if I’m wrong.

As for your second question, Nurse Nettie is going to be the best person to answer this one for you, but I think it all depends on the STI and if the condom is used correctly.

September 14, 2017 at 10:30 am #111677

CookieMonster
Participant

Hey @iabhi1227

To add to @DeftRat’s comment you can also check out https://playsafe.health.nsw.gov.au/sti/hiv-aids 

September 15, 2017 at 12:23 am #111678

Nurse_Nettie
Keymaster

Hi @iabhi1227! Great questions 🙂

To answer your first question, I’ll explain in a little more detail how HIV is transmitted.

1. The person you have sex with has to be HIV+ and have a detectable viral load (undetectable means almost no risk of transmission) AND
2. You have to be in contact with certain body fluids: semen, vaginal fluid, anal fluid, blood, or breast milk (saliva, sweat, & tears don’t transmit HIV) AND
3. There has to be enough fluid & it has to be fresh (HIV doesn’t survive outside the body for long). AND
4. There has to be a way for that fluid to get into your blood stream.

So… if a woman – whether she’s a sex worker or not – performs oral sex on you, you’re only exposed to her saliva which doesn’t transmit HIV. That means there’s no way of catching HIV (though you can get other STIs!).

If you perform oral sex on her, you’re exposed to her vaginal fluid in your mouth, but your mouth doesn’t provide easy access to your blood stream. If you have a significant open wound in your mouth, that can become a pathway for HIV. That means there almost no risk of HIV, unless you have this type of wound.

To answer your second question, condoms are a great way to decrease your risk of all STIs. But how well they work depends on how the STI itself is transmitted. Condoms are super effective against STIs that are transmitted though body fluids (eg HIV, chlamydia, & gonorrhoea). Condoms significantly decrease the risk of STIs that are transmitted on the skin (eg HPV or genital warts & Herpes).

Does that clear it up for you? 🙂

September 26, 2017 at 2:57 am #111679

CookieMonster
Participant

hey @iabhi1227
did this help you out? is there anything else you would like to ask?
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