Curious- how likely is it to convert from swallowing cum?

[N_Cordova]

I hope this isn't a silly question, but I've been told that it's nearly impossible to convert by swallowing cum from a poz guy. Is this true, or just a myth? Has anyone here converted that way, or know anyone that has? Thanks for any input you can give.

[jtonic]

I think this answers it well:

Oral sex is much less risky than anal or vaginal sex – but HIV still can enter through open cuts and sores, or possibly by infecting the lining of the mouth. There are some documented cases of people getting HIV through their mouth.

Once semen gets past the mouth, stomach acid and enzymes in the esophagus kill the virus. So swallowing or spitting out semen (cum or precum) reduces your risk for HIV, compared with letting it sit in your mouth.

A popular jingle is: Spit or Swallow, Don’t Let it Wallow.

To reduce your risk even more, make sure you keep the mucous membranes in your mouth healthy – don’t perform oral for about 45 minutes after you brush your teeth, floss, or engage in any other aggravating oral behavior, and not at all when you have open sores.

Remember, while the chance of catching HIV from oral sex is very low, you can easily catch other STDs, in particular gonorrhea and chlamydia.

Source

[bearbandit]

Every now and then there surfaces a study that says that a small percentage of guys have caught HIV through cocksucking. Personally, I don't think the statistics are accurate because, would you believe it, men tell lies. Somehow it's "less gay" to suck a dick that it is to take it up the ass, which is more likely the real story. The wonders of not being able to afford to tell the truth!

Generally speaking you'd need sufficient damage in your mouth (recent extraction, gum disease such as gingivitis, or very poor oral hygiene - all things that would put guys off from even kissing you) for there to be any risk.

[Poz1956]

Oral sex is the question that never ends. It is the hardest to study, because very few men have sucking cock as their only risk factor. Transmission risk is VERY difficult to study for higher risk activities, like anal and vaginal sex. Oral sex is almost impossible to investigate thoroughly.

There have been three studies that seriously looked at the possibility. Two of them had zero transmissions. One study had several. Researcher interviewed both the newly infected guy, and the person who was the source of the virus, two or three times. Under that scrutiny most admitted to other risks. In only one case, both parties consistently agreed over the course of multiple interrogations. Phylogenic analysis proved a genetic match for the virus in both men. So it is more than theoretically possible. There are a few cases where it has been reported.

But please, put it in perspective. How many billions of blow jobs happen every day? More than half of the 35 million Poz people are men. Every Poz guy has been sucked many, many times. Over the 33 years of the epidemic, there are only a hand full of documented cases. Most of those people have had oral health care issues. If oral sex was a good means of transmission, wouldn't most of the gay men in large cities be Poz? If you're going to worry about that small of a risk, you sure as hell shouldn't be considering anything discussed on this site.

Also, as with every other mode of transmission, you must take viral load into account. Sucking on a newly infected guy with a multi-million viral load presents a much higher risk than blowing a guy on treatment. Even with those high viral loads, catching HIV is a very rare event. I'd be willing to bet that if you could truly investigate all cases of oral sex transmission, most would be from guys in the acute phase of infection, and the blow job artist had oral health care issues.

Last week I had to hand hold a guy through HIV testing. He was terrified, and absolutely certain it would come back Poz. He would not have gotten it done, if I hadn't gone with him. Happily it came out Neg. In the post test counselling, the STI clinic nurse said that oral sex was so low risk, that he should not worry about it.

[rawfuckr]

I hope this isn't a silly question, but I've been told that it's nearly impossible to convert by swallowing cum from a poz guy. Is this true, or just a myth? Has anyone here converted that way, or know anyone that has? Thanks for any input you can give.

My local clinic for gay men has a saying 'either swallow it, or spit it, just don't keep it'. Even when cum in your mouth is low risk, what you want to do in that situation is either to swallow or to spit it out. When you swallow there is zero chance HIV is going to go anywhere, but if you keep cum around and you have some open sores there is a theoretical possibility you may get pozzed like that. In summary, the less cum stays in your mouth the better, and swallowing works as well as spitting it out.

[fskn]

As others have suggested, if oral sex were an effective way of transmitting HIV, almost all gay men would be Poz by now. That was also the official line at a University of California, San Francisco Center for AIDS Prevention Studies / San Francisco Department of Public Health talk given years ago, in which researchers presented order-of-magnitude HIV transmission risk estimates for different sex acts/positions.

Still, there are a few known cases.

If HIV is your only concern and no other lines of defense are available (an oral top with an undetectable viral load, or PrEP for yourself), it pays to mind the health of your gums, to wait a while after brushing and flossing, and to abstain from sucking if you have any sores in your mouth or on your lips. It's also important to be tested regularly for STDs other than HIV, because they can increase the risk of HIV transmission.

The Stop AIDS Project used to say, "Swallow or spit, just don't let it sit." We were told that there was a slight advantage to spitting. Very frankly, as an anal top who also loves to suck, I always swallow, because it's my job. When I'm in the mood to get sucked, if a guy says he doesn't swallow, I will hide signs of impending orgasm and silently get the first spurt in his mouth, sometimes hold his head and give him the whole load (if he's been sending mixed signals) -- or sometimes just find a proper cocksucker.

[Poz1956]

The mouth has a lot of defences against getting any kind of infections. It doesn't have the delicate mucous membranes like an ass or vagina. Think of all the potentially bad stuff that frequently goes into people's mouths. Especially babies who put anything that will fit into their mouth, and suck on everything else. They are not constantly getting infections by that route, right? Have you ever followed the "10 Second Rule" on some piece of food you dropped? How about the guys who rim? Rimming certainly does have higher risk of other infections, but considering the number of guys who eat ass, there just isn't an extremely high number of people with mouth infections because of it.

Saliva is a part of the body's natural defences against infection. It is pretty acidic, and contains enzymes, and antibodies which kill most bugs. Additionally, the saliva has a tendency to disrupt any cells and viruses which may be floating around in it. And lets face it, what ever was in the mouth, doesn't stay there long. It gets swallowed and put into the extremely caustic environment of the stomach. Additionally, remember that the HIV virus is actually quite fragile.

ACON in Australia advises that Swallowing is a better choice than Spitting. The theory is that around the gums is the most likely place for oral issues that might allow infection. Most cum shots happen behind the gums. Swallowing puts any active virus, or infected CD4 cells contained in the cum into the extremely caustic environment of the stomach.

The case for Spitting is that the back of the throat does contain some of the same cells as the rectal lining. Since the virus can pass by those cells in the rectum, it is theoretically possible that they could also get by the ones in the back of the throat. That's plausible for a big pre-cummer ram fucking a deep throat.

Logically there is a significant difference between a load of cum sitting in an ass, and jiz rapidly passing by throat cells on their way to the stomach. Also those same throat cells are continually washed by mucus and saliva, as you swallow a couple of times a minute. While spitting, you roll the cum around in your mouth, giving it more contact with the gums. When all those thoughts are put together, I think swallowing is the better option.

As another point of evidence, I'd like to quote a consensus statement signed by 70 Canadian HIV specialists. While published after the Partner study interim report, it only used data from HPTN 052, and what they see in their own practices.

While limited evidence suggests that HIV transmission from oral sex is plausible in cases of fellatio performed on an HIV positive individual, transmission in such circumstances would be extremely rare. Fellatio without ejaculation in the mouth of the performing HIV-negative individual would pose a lower possibility of transmission than fellatio with ejaculation.

There are no studies investigating the impact of antiretroviral therapy on the possibility of transmission during oral sex. However, given the negligible possibility associated with this sexual activity and the ability of antiretroviral therapy to dramatically reduce the possibility of transmission, it is our expert opinion that the possibility associated with oral sex when the HIV-positive individual is on effective antiretroviral therapy approaches zero.[/Quote]

The truth is, there is far greater risk of getting some other STI orally, than there is of catching HIV through giving BJs. Just as an aside on other STIs, Hepatitis B is 50 to 100 times more transmissible than HIV (but nobody seems to ask about it). It is definitely considered transmissible by oral sex. Hep A can be caught through rimming. Both are completely preventable. If you haven't done so already, may I suggest you get the Hep A & B combo vaccinations. All gay men should be inoculated against those infections.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Poz1956

[FINGuySwallows]

I have given blowjobs since I was 17. I usually suck 2-3 men every other day. I never suck with a condom. I lways let them cum in my mouth and just swallow. I have probably been with around 18 poz guys and I'm still negative. I test myself 4 times a year. The chances are obviously higher if you eat poz semen but it wont stop me. Ill eat sperm from literally anyone. 😋

[fillmyholeftl]

Actually, swallowing is probably much safer but giving a blow job has a negligable risk of contractin HIV. you need to have open sores, saliva doesnt support the transmission of HIV... But chek for other STIs and enjoy yourself