Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date. I am studying human sexuality in graduate school and came upon a
few questions in a class discussion on STI's. A question came up
regarding the transmission of HIV/AIDS through oral sex. During
Oral sex, if the semen is ingested, what are the odds that
someone could contract HIV/AIDS?...and through "swallowing"?
Just curious...
Mark H. Katz, M.D.
Regional HIV/AIDS Physician Coordinator
Kaiser Permanente of Southern California
Please refer to the above-referenced CDC website for the state of the art information about transmission. Although it is difficult to come up with an actual odds chance of becoming infected, most epidemiologists who have ventured to answer say that the risk of acquiring HIV from an act of unprotected intercourse is in the neighborhood of 1%. Remember that this can only be a guess--it is impossible to have a controlled situation whereby one can actually measure HIV acquisition from oral sex alone. One can extrapolate from that, according to experts, that the risk from oral sex is lower, or much less than 1 in 100.
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