One of the primary ways of acquiring HIV, the AIDS
virus, is through unprotected sexual intercourse (no condom). When a condom
(rubber) is not used, partners may exchange any or all of the infectious body
fluids – blood, semen, or vaginal secretions.
It is important to note, however, that there are different
degrees of risk for different types of intercourse, and the risk varies for the
different partners, with the penetrated partner always at higher risk. Anal
intercourse is the riskiest, vaginal is somewhat less so, and oral sex is by
far the least risky.
Many authorities no longer take much note of oral sex. It’s
not that oral sex doesn’t have any risk at all; it does. We definitely can
document a small number of infections acquired through performing oral sex on a
man (fellatio). Documenting transmission through oral sex on a woman
(cunnilingus) is more difficult, but the possibility must always be
acknowleged.
Note that it is always the person performing the oral act
(the “do-er”) who is at risk. After all, the only body fluid that the person
being performed upon (the “do-ee”) is having contact with is saliva, and saliva
is not a vector for transmission with HIV.
The bottom line of oral sex is this: Don’t take a man’s
ejaculate into the mouth (don’t let him cum in your mouth). By taking that one
precaution, the bulk of the danger will be reduced. It’s not that there won’t
be any risk at all, but at least a relatively low level of risk will have been
reduced even further.
Research is still inconclusive about pre-ejaculatory fluids
(pre-cum). The virus can sometimes be found in pre-ejaculate, but not
typically at levels capable of achieving infection. It is the semen (cum) that
is of greater concern. Still, a few people would assert that they were
infected even though they did not permit their partners to ejaculate into the
mouth.
Of course, to be completely safe in oral sex, a condom
always should be used for fellatio and a dental dam for cunnilingus. There are
even flavored condoms available for that purpose.
John Sandy Bartlett
Community Education Coordinator
AIDS Services of Austin
10/91, rev. 4/95
This article appears in June 2 • 1995 and June 2 • 1995 (Cover).