HIV Transmissions and Risks
HIV Transmissions & Risks
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We receive very many enquiries every day on the subject of HIV risk and whether a particular activity, sexual or otherwise, might lead to infection with HIV.
Most of these enquiries are questions about very low risk to zero risk activities, some not involving any sexual activity at all.
One of the commonest questions is about the risks associated with having oral sex. It seems from current knowledge and reporting that oral sex represents a very small to zero risk of HIV transmission. Please remember that we are talking ONLY about HIV here and not Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, herpes, syphilis etc which are much more easily transmissible.
Oral sex represents a negligible to very low risk of transmission because of a number of different complimentary factors. These include the fact that cells lining the mouth and throat tend to be resistant to HIV infection; that saliva contains HIV inhibitory enzymes; and that the chemical composition of saliva interferes with the chemistry inside cells which do become infected.