Many people find oral sex an intensely pleasurable experience. People use different terms to refer to oral sex including formal terms like fellatio and cunnilingus and slang terms like blow jobs and giving head. Usually oral sex means one person kissing, licking or sucking another person's genitals. Doctors and researchers can't be sure how many people have acquired HIV through oral sex. In late , researchers looked at all the available evidence and calculated that the risk of acquiring HIV from oral sex was very low, but that it wasn't zero. It is clear that oral sex involves much less risk than anal or vaginal sex. HIV is most easily passed on during anal sex, vaginal sex, sharing injecting equipment, and from mother to baby. It is much less likely that HIV will be passed on during oral sex, but it is possible in some circumstances.

How Can You Prevent Getting HIV from Anal or Vaginal Sex?


Separating Facts from Common Misconceptions
After more than 35 years of epidemiological and biomedical research, the question of whether you can get HIV from oral sex remains confusing. So let's start by separating hypotheticals from the hard facts and statistics. If asking can a person get HIV from oral sex, the honest answer would have to be possible but unlikely. For the most part, oral sex—either in terms of fellatio oral-penile , cunnilingus oral-vaginal , or anilingus oral-anal —is not an efficient route of HIV transmission.
Testing for HIV
Oral sex involves using the mouth to stimulate the penis fellatio , vagina cunnilingus , or anus anilingus. However, it is hard to know the exact risk because a lot of people who have oral sex also have anal or vaginal sex. The type of oral sex that may be the riskiest is mouth-to-penis oral sex. But the risk is still very low, and much lower than with anal or vaginal sex. Though the risk of HIV transmission through oral sex is low, several factors may increase that risk, including sores in the mouth or vagina or on the penis, bleeding gums, oral contact with menstrual blood, and the presence of other sexually transmitted diseases STDs. Other STDs, such as syphilis, herpes, gonorrhea and chlamydia, can be transmitted during oral sex. Anilingus can also transmit hepatitis A and B, intestinal parasites like Giardia , and bacteria like E. Individuals can further reduce the already low risk of HIV transmission from oral sex by keeping their male partners from ejaculating in their mouth. This could be done by removing the mouth from the penis before ejaculation, or by using a condom. Using a barrier like a condom or dental dam during oral sex can further reduce the risk of transmitting HIV, other STDs, and hepatitis.
Back to Sexual health. HIV is transmitted through seminal and vaginal fluids, including menstrual fluids. The virus can enter the body through the bloodstream or by passing through delicate mucous membranes, such as inside the vagina, rectum or urethra. If a person gives fellatio and has bleeding gums, a cut, or an ulcer inside their mouth, HIV could enter their bloodstream through infected fluid. This could also happen if infected fluid from a woman gets into the mouth of her partner during oral sex. You can use a dental dam to cover the anus or female genitals during oral sex.