AboutMark Behar Expertise Almost any question or concern about sexually transmitted infections, abnormal Pap smears, anal cytology (anal "Pap smears"), gay men's health issues.
There is no such thing as “d/d free” or “clean” (free of infection), so why do so many of us deceive ourselves into thinking that some people are indeed totally free from a potentially infectious disease, like HIV, herpes, hepatitis, syphilis, chlamydia, warts, gonorrhea, etc., just because they say so? Clinical laboratory tests are not perfect, and having a “negative” or “nonreactive” test does not mean that a person is free from infection. Perhaps at the moment the test was taken, the person was uninfected; or, perhaps, the test wasn’t sensitive enough to detect presence of the infection. There is really no way that anyone can determine that they are truly “disease free,” and there are over a hundred of infectious conditions that can be spread without your knowing anything.
Rather than trying to “prescreen” or “serosort” a potential sex-mate with deceptive questions that are impossible to know by today’s technologies, a wiser option may be to consider everyone infected with something, and either use appropriate protective measures (“safer sex”), or accept the responsibility and conseqences of possibly “catching” something from someone who’s hotter than expected (pun intended!).
There is much research that supports the contention that an HIV positive person reliably taking HIV medications, and having an undetectable viral load, presents a lower risk for transmission of HIV than people who may think or say they are HIV negative, but are not. Food for thought!
Experience Family Practice PA since 1981;
Volunteer Clinician for Brady East STD (BESTD) Clinic, Milwaukee, since 1977; answer STD questions submitted to their web site.
Professionally lectured at national and regional Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner conferences, and at national gay & lesbian health conferences on topics including HIV/AIDS, herpes, hepatitis, STDs, human papilloma virus (the cause of venereal warts), abnormal Pap smears, gay and lesbian health issues, among others.
Organizations Distinguished Fellow, American Academy of Physician Assistants; Co-Founder, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Gay Physician Assistant Caucus of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, Inc.;
Wisconsin Academy of Physician Assistants;
Florida Academy of Physician Assistants;
American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP)
Publications Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (JAPA)
Education/Credentials Physician Assistant Certified, since 1982;
Masters in Physician Assistant Studies;
Colposcopy Recognition Award, American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP);
Awards and Honors Colposcopy Recognition Award (CRA), from the American Association of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology
Past/Present Clients Brady East STD Clinic, Milwaukee, WI
Expert: Mark Behar Date: 6/27/2008 Subject: oral sex
Question ok i was in a relationship with a guy for awhile and caught hereps2, i think he knew he had it but didnt tell me,because when i confronted him on it he was a complete ass to me and refused to talk about it.. anyway im on valtrex,lysine,immune booster pills and they have helped greatly in my outbreaks, ive only had 1 so far, but does a person have to still use condoms ? if you have a partner that is neg? can he ever perform oral sex on me or will he get it? i know not to have sex while having an outbreak and to wait a week before and after and outbreak, what are the chances he would ge tit from me? i cant imagine going through life without having oral again? what fun is that?(im strictly talking about dating someone who is neg, and he knows i have it but stil wants to have sex and im leary just becasue this is all new for me..how much by taking valtrex cuts down transmission? i take it everyday as suppressive therapy? at the moment i am not seriously dating anyone, i just met this other guy but we have not done anything, im just wondering for the future? and also if i do date someone who has type 2 will i get it if i perform oral on them if they are taking vlatrex? they say its uncommon for the virus to go to the mouth of type 2, but i dont have it there and i dont want to...
Answer Hi Maddy,
Yes, unfortunately taking the medications you mention is not a 100% guarantee of your being unable to transmit the virus during oral or genital sex. You don't have a lot of outbreaks, which is good! There is not a great liklihood that you will spread it to a sex partner, but this doesn't mean impossible to spread, even with the medications. However, the chances are very low that he will get anything from you, as long as you are aware of the signs and symptoms of a recurrent infection.
I cannot say what the risk of your passing on the virus to someone else might be if you are taking Valtrex all the time. It is possible for type 1 or 2 to switch locations-- i.e., from mouth to genitals, genitals to mouth, or more traditionally, mouth to mouth or genitals to genitals.
