Is oral sex safe?
When the risk of HIV transmission is considered for all sexual behaviors, oral sex is a lower risk behavior as long as no genital lesions are present and the provider has good oral health. However, oral sex is not without risk. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study released in 2000 found that among 102 study participants recently infected with HIV, 8 people gave a history of oral sex as their only risk behavior. That translates into a 7.8% infection rate by oral transmission.
Some individuals consider oral sex to be a safe or no risk sexual practice. Many people feel safe engaging in this behavior because there is no risk of pregnancy. There are, however, other considerations. Many sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as gonorrhea, herpes, hepatitis B, HIV, and syphilis can be transmitted through oral-genital contact. The risk of contracting chlamydia and HPV through oral sex is much less, although possible. It is difficult to determine exact rates of transmission of STIs through oral sex since many sexually active individuals practice oral sex in addition to other, higher risk activities, such as vaginal and/or anal sex. In addition, if a male ejaculates during oral sex, then the risk to his partner becomes higher. UGA students need to be most concerned about gonorrhea herpes, hepatitis B, HIV and syphilis when engaging in oral sex. Gonorrhea There is no data to indicate how often gonorrhea is transmitted through oral sex. Gonorrhea can be transmitt
