Expert: Terry B - 7/29/2007

Question
I am still confused about oral sex.  Has anyone ever caught HIV from being the insertive partner (being sucked) or is that not a means for infection. Thanks!

Answer
Dear Adam:

Peace.  

"Has anyone ever...?" questions are impossible to answer because we don't have reliable data on every single HIV transmission.

There are some people who contract HIV who may report their only possible exposure to the virus is from receptive oral sex; finding enough people who test positive to make a reliable retrospective study seems a daunting task.  I am not aware of a reliable study isolating receptive (having oral sex performed on subject) oral sex as the only risk and attempting to translate such statistics for use in the general population.

Instead, looking at the fluids that transmit HIV (blood, semen, vaginal secretions, breast milk) from an infected person to another, and even noting that with millions of people are infected with HIV daily, it would seem highly unlikely but not impossible that an HIV infection would be transmitted in this manner.

Other infections, including Hepatitis and Herpes, can be more easily transmitted through receptive oral sex.  A person who is exposing others to their semen, blood, or vaginal secretions by having oral sex performed upon them places their sexual partner at greater risk.

I hope this is sufficient for your informed decision making and risk reduction.

Sincerely,

Terry