Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.I was wondering if you could get HIV or AIDS through kissing when you have your tongue pierced? Thanks....
Mark H. Katz, M.D.
Regional HIV/AIDS Physician Coordinator
Kaiser Permanente of Southern California
See the attached list of certain sexual activities--in which one partner is already positive--and how small the likelihood is of someone becoming HIV- infected. The scenario you ask about is as unlikely a way of attracting HIV as any of these--UNLESS the piercing site is bleeding (but really, would you be kissing anyone if such were the case?). This sounds like an infinitesimally small way of acquiring HIV, again, as long as there is not contact of blood from a positive person into a break in the skin or mucous membranes of the other person.
[For information about HIV exposure, the following chart (Table) from the below MMWR article indicates the estimated per-act risk for getting HIV, listed by exposure route, please see:
Table: http://www.aegis.org/pubs/mmwr/2005/r402a1t1.gif
MMWR article: http://www.aegis.org/pubs/mmwr/2005/RR5402-1.html ]
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