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.
Can HIV be transmitted through oral sex (fellatio and cunnilingus)?
Oral sex | aidsmap
The virus is transmitted between partners when the fluids of one person come into contact with the blood stream of another person. This contact can occur from a cut or broken skin, or through the tissues of the vagina, rectum, foreskin, or the opening of the penis. Oral sex ranks very low on the list of ways HIV can be transmitted. However, the risk of contracting HIV through oral sex is not zero. The truth is, you can in theory still contract HIV this way.
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.
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.