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Oral transmission risk and references
***Sorry if this is posted in the wrong forum but I wanted to pass this along***
My name is Paul and over the last 90 days I have been in a high state of anxiety, bordering on panic, after what I thought was a potential oral HIV exposure. I am a 42 year old male in the PA area. I am writing this post to give a summary of my experiences and what I have learned from them because it may provide benefit to others in the same situation. There seem to be plenty. I have become highly sensitive and sympathetic to the concerns and alarms voiced by so many people around the topic of Oral Transmission of HIV. The information on the internet is inconsistent and at times alarming and frightening. Some websites use dated or not statistically valid sample information to arrive at unsupported positions.
In March 2015 I had three separate unprotected oral experiences. I gave oral sex to three anonymous men, no ejaculation, and each incident lasted between 20 - 60 seconds. I have engaged in this type of oral intercourse exclusively and occasionally over the past several years at a frequency of about 2-3 times per year, never with ejaculation in mouth. I had always perceived this to be a type of “safe sex”. I have never had any other type of MSM sex. I know that most on this website would say I had no exposure. I had no reason to post here before because I already knew what the response would be after lots of reading.
About 10 days after the March 2015 incidents I came down with a type of flu, something I have never before experienced, more like a pneumonia with heavy, wet, coughing and extreme fatigue, a mild fever, but no sore throat, rash, or swollen glands. I lost a great deal of weight and also had a sinus infection requiring antibiotics and then had a mild case of mouth thrush. All this transpired over a period of about 2-3 weeks. All of this could be explained away trough other causes. If not for the symptoms I would never have given it a second thought. But because of the symptoms I gave it a second, third, and fourth thought. And I started reading various websites and articles which only increased my anxiety and stress. In the weeks following my symptom onset I became convinced that I was at real risk of having acquired HIV. I then found this site and a few others that took a more reasoned and medically justified approach in their opinions.
But even that was not enough for me. I wanted to see the medical evidence supporting all these varying opinions. I looked for current studies or opinions, not the old studies regurgitated from the 1990’s and early 2000’s and at first I could not find all that many. But with determination (obsession) and reading literally hundreds of related articles and discussion posts over about 6 weeks, I was able to find more current medical references which I have listed below.
I am not a physician or medial professional, but I have a science background. My own non-medical opinion, combining all of the research I have done, is that Oral Transmission of HIV is extremely unlikely to occur. I like the term “negligible risk” from the 2014 Loutfy Canadian paper. The medically documented per-incidence probability is estimated in a range of 1 in 5,000 - 100,000. And these published odds do not consistently factor the presence of ejaculate or open oral lesions/sores/cuts. I do not doubt that ejaculation especially when combined with general oral mucosa compromise increase the potential risk of oral HIV transmission. The medical studies do not support a zero-risk position. However, the evidence does point to an extremely unlikely or “negligible” risk.
Some of you will say that this has been known all along and there is nothing new here. And on this site that would be correct, except maybe for the newer references listed below. I posted here because of the personal stress I went through during this 3 month period before I could get tested with a negative result which I did. I also wanted to list the latest medical opinions for others who are interested.
And last but not least, I wanted to express my sympathy for those who acquired HIV from any source. During this period I have learned a lot and read a lot of very personal and tragic stories. I know that HIV is not the death sentence it was even 15 years ago and I am happy about that. I have donated some funds to several HIV research sites and hope that a cure is forthcoming. There is reason for optimism.
These references are listed alphabetically. The Loutfy Canadian and Benn UK studies were the most informative and useful to me, but all were good.
Benn, P., Fischer, M., & Kulasegaram, R. (2011). UK guideline for the use of post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV following sexual exposure (2011). In International Journal of STD & AIDS (Vol. 22, pp. 695-708). London, UK. See tables.
http://www.bhiva.org/documents/guidelines/pepse/pepse2011.pdf
Grohskopf, L., & Smith, D. (2005). Antiretroviral Postexposure Prophylaxis After Sexual Injection-Drug Use, or Other Nonoccupational Exposure to HIV in the United States. In CDC Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (pp. 1-20). See figures and tables at end of paper. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5402a1.htm
Loutfy, M., Tyndall, M., Baril, J.-G., Montaner, J., Kaul, R., & Hankins, C. (2014). Canadian consensus statement on HIV and its transmission in the context of criminal law. In Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases (Vol. 25, pp. 135-140). Toronto, Canada: Womens College Research Institute. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4173974
Schafberger, A., & Taubert, S. (2011). HIV Report Pre cum. In Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe e.V (pp. 1-9). Berlin, Germany.
http://www.hivreport.de/sites/default/files/ausgaben/2011_02_hivreport_e.pdf
Tan, K. K. (2011, October 28). Getting HIV from Oral Sex.
http://www.drtanandpartners.com/getting-hiv-from-oral-sex
Wood, L., Chahroudi, A., Jaspan, H., Sodora, D., & Chen, H. (2014, July). The Oral Mucosa Immune Environment and Oral Transmission of HIV/SIV. See conclusions. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3821196/
My name is Paul and over the last 90 days I have been in a high state of anxiety, bordering on panic, after what I thought was a potential oral HIV exposure. I am a 42 year old male in the PA area. I am writing this post to give a summary of my experiences and what I have learned from them because it may provide benefit to others in the same situation. There seem to be plenty. I have become highly sensitive and sympathetic to the concerns and alarms voiced by so many people around the topic of Oral Transmission of HIV. The information on the internet is inconsistent and at times alarming and frightening. Some websites use dated or not statistically valid sample information to arrive at unsupported positions.
In March 2015 I had three separate unprotected oral experiences. I gave oral sex to three anonymous men, no ejaculation, and each incident lasted between 20 - 60 seconds. I have engaged in this type of oral intercourse exclusively and occasionally over the past several years at a frequency of about 2-3 times per year, never with ejaculation in mouth. I had always perceived this to be a type of “safe sex”. I have never had any other type of MSM sex. I know that most on this website would say I had no exposure. I had no reason to post here before because I already knew what the response would be after lots of reading.
About 10 days after the March 2015 incidents I came down with a type of flu, something I have never before experienced, more like a pneumonia with heavy, wet, coughing and extreme fatigue, a mild fever, but no sore throat, rash, or swollen glands. I lost a great deal of weight and also had a sinus infection requiring antibiotics and then had a mild case of mouth thrush. All this transpired over a period of about 2-3 weeks. All of this could be explained away trough other causes. If not for the symptoms I would never have given it a second thought. But because of the symptoms I gave it a second, third, and fourth thought. And I started reading various websites and articles which only increased my anxiety and stress. In the weeks following my symptom onset I became convinced that I was at real risk of having acquired HIV. I then found this site and a few others that took a more reasoned and medically justified approach in their opinions.
But even that was not enough for me. I wanted to see the medical evidence supporting all these varying opinions. I looked for current studies or opinions, not the old studies regurgitated from the 1990’s and early 2000’s and at first I could not find all that many. But with determination (obsession) and reading literally hundreds of related articles and discussion posts over about 6 weeks, I was able to find more current medical references which I have listed below.
I am not a physician or medial professional, but I have a science background. My own non-medical opinion, combining all of the research I have done, is that Oral Transmission of HIV is extremely unlikely to occur. I like the term “negligible risk” from the 2014 Loutfy Canadian paper. The medically documented per-incidence probability is estimated in a range of 1 in 5,000 - 100,000. And these published odds do not consistently factor the presence of ejaculate or open oral lesions/sores/cuts. I do not doubt that ejaculation especially when combined with general oral mucosa compromise increase the potential risk of oral HIV transmission. The medical studies do not support a zero-risk position. However, the evidence does point to an extremely unlikely or “negligible” risk.
Some of you will say that this has been known all along and there is nothing new here. And on this site that would be correct, except maybe for the newer references listed below. I posted here because of the personal stress I went through during this 3 month period before I could get tested with a negative result which I did. I also wanted to list the latest medical opinions for others who are interested.
And last but not least, I wanted to express my sympathy for those who acquired HIV from any source. During this period I have learned a lot and read a lot of very personal and tragic stories. I know that HIV is not the death sentence it was even 15 years ago and I am happy about that. I have donated some funds to several HIV research sites and hope that a cure is forthcoming. There is reason for optimism.
These references are listed alphabetically. The Loutfy Canadian and Benn UK studies were the most informative and useful to me, but all were good.
Benn, P., Fischer, M., & Kulasegaram, R. (2011). UK guideline for the use of post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV following sexual exposure (2011). In International Journal of STD & AIDS (Vol. 22, pp. 695-708). London, UK. See tables.
http://www.bhiva.org/documents/guidelines/pepse/pepse2011.pdf
Grohskopf, L., & Smith, D. (2005). Antiretroviral Postexposure Prophylaxis After Sexual Injection-Drug Use, or Other Nonoccupational Exposure to HIV in the United States. In CDC Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention (pp. 1-20). See figures and tables at end of paper. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5402a1.htm
Loutfy, M., Tyndall, M., Baril, J.-G., Montaner, J., Kaul, R., & Hankins, C. (2014). Canadian consensus statement on HIV and its transmission in the context of criminal law. In Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases (Vol. 25, pp. 135-140). Toronto, Canada: Womens College Research Institute. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4173974
Schafberger, A., & Taubert, S. (2011). HIV Report Pre cum. In Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe e.V (pp. 1-9). Berlin, Germany.
http://www.hivreport.de/sites/default/files/ausgaben/2011_02_hivreport_e.pdf
Tan, K. K. (2011, October 28). Getting HIV from Oral Sex.
http://www.drtanandpartners.com/getting-hiv-from-oral-sex
Wood, L., Chahroudi, A., Jaspan, H., Sodora, D., & Chen, H. (2014, July). The Oral Mucosa Immune Environment and Oral Transmission of HIV/SIV. See conclusions. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3821196/
Hi, finally u got negative result yes. What you think about cunnilingus(oral sex on a woman). Did you read any case hiv affected from cunnilingus
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