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HIV risk from transsexuals?
Dear Doctor,
The other night I did something quite stupid. I went out with a pre-op male-to-female transsexual that I had met online and we ended up performing unprotected oral sex on each other for an extensive period of time. My penis also briefly came into contact with her anus, although I did not attempt to insert. Neither of us came in each others' mouths, but I did taste pre-***. Although she claims to be STD-free, I have good reason to believe she may be engaging in frequent casual sex and may have worked as an escort in Las Vegas and San Diego. She also seemed unusually thin (skin and bones, so to speak, with virtually no body fat anywhere.) I'm not aware of her drug-use habits but I later found out she frequents after-hour places here in Seattle notorious for prostitution and hard drug use.
Some have posted here claiming that performing unprotected oral sex carries no risk but I have certainly seen studies that indicate otherwise, particularly with sores in the mouth and despite the alleged transmission-mitigating effects of saliva. I am really quite worried that I may be at risk for contracting HIV, even though statistics seem to be in my favor.
I would like to wait 10 days and go to the Harborview STD clinic here in Seattle for an RNA test if possible. The more I think about it, the more suspicious this transsexual woman's background is and I would really like to put this worry to rest. What is your recommendation?
Thank you,
-- Worried Grad Student.
The other night I did something quite stupid. I went out with a pre-op male-to-female transsexual that I had met online and we ended up performing unprotected oral sex on each other for an extensive period of time. My penis also briefly came into contact with her anus, although I did not attempt to insert. Neither of us came in each others' mouths, but I did taste pre-***. Although she claims to be STD-free, I have good reason to believe she may be engaging in frequent casual sex and may have worked as an escort in Las Vegas and San Diego. She also seemed unusually thin (skin and bones, so to speak, with virtually no body fat anywhere.) I'm not aware of her drug-use habits but I later found out she frequents after-hour places here in Seattle notorious for prostitution and hard drug use.
Some have posted here claiming that performing unprotected oral sex carries no risk but I have certainly seen studies that indicate otherwise, particularly with sores in the mouth and despite the alleged transmission-mitigating effects of saliva. I am really quite worried that I may be at risk for contracting HIV, even though statistics seem to be in my favor.
I would like to wait 10 days and go to the Harborview STD clinic here in Seattle for an RNA test if possible. The more I think about it, the more suspicious this transsexual woman's background is and I would really like to put this worry to rest. What is your recommendation?
Thank you,
-- Worried Grad Student.
I hope you studies went better than your observations of the expert forum. If you had, you would have read that neither doctor has ever seen anyone contract HIV from oral sex in their 30 years of practice.
I did some searching on this forum and have found that Dr. Handsfield at least seems to consider performing unprotected fellatio on a man to be a risk for HIV transmission. Studies seem to confirm this, although the largest problem with some of them is a lack of control for the condition of seroconverters' mouths (ulcers, sores, bleeding gums, etc.)
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