Oral sex simply mean an act of stimulating one another partners' genitals using mouth. These partners could be of homosexual or straight orientation.
There is a notion that oral sex somehow protects people from contracting
and suffering from Sexually Transmitted Diseases. It is a false one.
Among various age groups around the world today, and increasingly in our
own country, many teenagers and young adults are engaging in oral sex
not because they necessary think it is safer but because they think it
is now fashionable to do so. Some others have enough knowledge to
determine that it may be safer to do so from a health perspective.
Others see it as an escape from having to cope with unwanted
pregnancies. That may be all that they can protect themselves against.
If you love to give or receive oral sex, the following information will be useful…
Human Papilloma Virus is a sexually-transmitted virus that is also a
leading cause of throat cancer (oropharyngeal cancer), and it
spreads from person to person via oral sex.
The Number One risk in contracting oral HPV and developing HPV-related throat cancer is having multiple oral sex partners.
You can be infected with a sexually transmitted infection from oral
sex. Many STIs, including chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, hepatitis A,
and the viruses that cause warts, intestinal parasites, etc. can be
spread through oral sex.
The chances of giving or getting STIs during oral sex can be lowered by using a condom or dental dam.
You can get some STIs in the mouth or throat from giving oral sex to a partner with genital or anal/rectal infection.
HIV can be passed on during oral sex when fluid containing HIV (such
as semen, vaginal fluid or blood) find a way into the bloodstream of an
HIV-negative person (via the mouth or throat, if there is inflammation,
or cuts or sores present).
If you have HIV, there is a higher risk of passing on HIV through someone performing oral sex on you.
If you don’t have HIV and you are performing oral sex on someone who
has HIV, you are at more risk of being infected if you have cuts, sores
or abrasions in your mouth or on your gum
For men, having a high viral load in the blood may also mean that viral load is high in the semen’
For women, the levels of HIV in vaginal fluid are likely to be
highest around the time of menstruation, when HIV-bearing cells shed
from the cervix are most likely to be found in vaginal fluid, along with
blood.
Oral sex will be riskier around the time of menstruation.
If you give or receive oral sex, go for regular medical check-ups to ascertain the state of your health.
Sources: aidsmap.com, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/
