Can Hiv Be Transmitted Thru Kissing

Hiv Can Be Transmitted Through Kissing

At the start of the HIV epidemic, people with the virus faced discrimination and subjugation wherever they went. Little was known about the virus that was ravaging the LGBT+ community, and many assumed it could be passed on through kissing or touching.

Today, we know that this is not the case but the message hasnt yet gotten through to everyone. A 2018 survey from HIV Scotland found that 21 per cent of people still believe HIV can be transmitted through kissing or saliva exchanges, while 14 per cent said the virus could be transmitted through coughing, sneezing and spitting.

HIV can be transmitted through condomless sex, but not through kissing. This myth urgently needs to be consigned to the scrap heap in 2020.

Is There A Way To Prevent Stds From Kissing

Abstinence is the only way to completely prevent oral STDs. But kissing is enjoyable, and may even have some health benefits.

If you like kissing, here are some strategies for lowering your chances of getting an oral STD:

• Avoid kissing if you or your partner have any sores or cuts in the mouth.

• Dont bite while kissing.

• Dont brush or floss right before/after kissing.

• Practice good, regular dental hygiene.

• Avoid kissing if you feel sick.

• If you enjoy using your mouth for other sexual activities, like oral sex, use a barrier like a dental dam or condom.

• Get vaccinated against HPV and hepatitis B.

Ways Hiv Is Not Transmitted

How well does HIV survive outside the body?

HIV does not survive long outside the human body , and it cannot reproduce outside a human host. It is not transmitted

• Through saliva, tears, or sweat.
• Through other sexual activities that dont involve the exchange of body fluids .
• Through the air.

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Myth : Theres No Treatment For Hiv

Sure, the early days of HIV and AIDS were grim, just given how little people knew about the virus and the condition.

But treatment has come a long way since the 80s. Today, antiretroviral medications can greatly reduce the amount of the virus in a persons body, often to the point that HIV no longer shows up on blood tests.

When that happens, the person has effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to others. Plus, it helps prevent HIV from progressing.

Can You Kiss People If You Have Syphilis

If you have tested positive for syphilis, its best to avoid sexual contact with others until youve been treated, allowed the time for treatment to take effect, and given the OK from your doctor. Your doctor can advise if youre able to keep on kissing while youre being treated it will all depend on where your symptoms are located.

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How To Prevent Hiv

The best way to keep yourself free from HIV infection is through safe sex. If you have a sexually active lifestyle, the tips below might help you to prevent getting infected:

Be monogamous. Having one sexual partner will lower your chance of being an HIV-positive person. Once you and your partner are done getting tested for HIV and STIs, protect yourselves by staying faithful with one another.

Use condoms. Wearing condoms during sex will ensure that you are safe from infections and sexually transmitted diseases. This should be a practice for male-female and male-male intercourse.

Effective Barriers Against Hiv

There are many effective barriers that prevent infection.

Skin: Skin is an excellent barrier against HIV, unless there is an open cut or open wound. Infectious fluid on skin is NOT a route for infection.

Mucous membranes in the mouth, throat and stomach: These membranes are good barriers against HIV infection, so long as there are not cuts, ulcers or sores.

Saliva: Saliva contains proteins and a low salt content that actively reduce its infectiousness. Even when HIV is detected there is too little to cause infection. HIV is not transmitted by kissing including deep kissing. Spit cannot transmit HIV.

Air: HIV is not transmitted by air.

Latex and rubber: Condoms prevent infection from HIV and many other sexually transmitted infections.

Many sexual situations have no risk of transmitting HIV.

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How To Be Safe When Coming Into Contact With Infected Blood

A condom will act as a barrier against any contact with blood during sex.

As well as sex, sharing equipment for injecting drugs is a way blood can get into someones body. This can be avoided by using fresh needles and not sharing needles, syringes and other equipment.

If a woman has HIV, her menstrual blood also carries a risk of transmission if she has a detectable viral load.

If youre HIV negative and taking pre-exposure prophylaxis youll be protected against getting HIV if you come into contact with infectious blood.

Ways Hiv Is Not Spread

Get the true facts about HIV transmission.

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The human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, has existed in the United States since at least the 1970s, but myths and misconceptions about how its transmitted still persist.

Most people know that the virus is commonly spread through sexual contact and intravenous drug use. But what other behaviors are and are not risk factors?

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Can You Kiss Somebody With Herpes

Absolutely! Just because someone has herpes doesnt mean theyll never be able to smooch again.

The stigma that can sometimes accompany herpes can make it seem like its a big deal, but an estimated 1 in 8 sexually active Australians have the virus. Often, people who have herpes wont even experience symptoms so if youve already been sexually active there is a chance you have come in contact with it. As with any type of sex, there is always a level of risk that youll need to determine if you are comfortable with or not.

How Do You Get Aids

You canât âcatchâ AIDS, which stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV infection. If a person has HIV and is not on HIV treatment, the virus will weaken the bodyâs immune system and the person will progress to AIDS.

People with AIDS have such badly damaged immune systems that they get a number of severe illnesses, called opportunistic infections.

However, thanks to todayâs effective HIV treatment, most people with HIV in the U.S. do not have AIDS. People with HIV who take HIV medicine as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load can stay healthy and will not progress to AIDS.

People who are HIV-negative can prevent getting HIV by using pre-exposure prophylaxis , medicine that can stop HIV from taking hold in the body. There is also post-exposure prophylaxis , a short course of HIV medicines taken very soon after a possible exposure to HIV to prevent the virus from taking hold in your body. PEP must be started within 72-hours of a possible exposure to be effective. Learn more about these HIV prevention tools and other ways to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV.

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What Should I Do If I Need To Clean Up Blood

HIV does not usually survive long outside of the body, but contact with blood should be avoided.

Hepatitis C can survive in dried blood at room temperature for several weeks, and hepatitis B can survive in dried blood for around a week outside the body.

To clean up blood that has been spilled, wear rubber gloves and mop up the liquid using bleach and warm water . Use warm, soapy water to clean away blood spilled on someones body.

Put the waste, used gloves and bloodied clothes in a plastic bag, seal and throw away.

How Safe Is Oral Sex

Giving oral sex to a woman is also considered relatively low risk. Transmission could take place if infected sexual fluids from a woman got into the mouth of her partner. The likelihood of infection might be increased if there is menstrual blood involved or if the woman is infected with another sexually transmitted disease.

The likelihood of either a man or a woman becoming infected with HIV as a result of receiving oral sex is extremely low, as saliva does not contain infectious quantities of HIV.

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How Viral Load Affects Transmission

For people who have HIV, your viral load is the amount of the virus that can be found in your blood.

“Once a virus enters your body, it uses your cells to reproduce. When it reproduces you get a high amount of the virus in your body. The viral load is how you describe the amount of virus you have in your body. The higher your viral load is, the more infectious you are,” Safo says.

Your viral load is at its highest at the beginning and end-stage of the virus. During these times, you are highly infectious and can easily transmit the virus to another person.

HIV medication is designed to lower your viral load to levels by which it becomes difficult to transmit. In some cases, your load might become so low while on medication that a test won’t be able to detect the virus.

If your viral load is undetectable then you can’t transmit the virus to another person. However, not everyone on HIV medication can achieve or maintain undetectable viral loads, which is why it’s advisable to continue to practice safe sex.

Doubts Persist Even When Risk Is Statistically Zero

Despite increased public awareness about HIV, there remains a lot of confusion about how you can get infected and how you cannot. For example, even though people understand that you cant get HIV from utensils, there are many who will experience a twinge of concern if they learned that the chef of their favorite restaurant has HIV.

HIV has a way of spurring anxieties in even the best of us and, with it, our sense of reason. Relieving those anxieties often requires us to do more than just lay out the rules. Instead, we need to understand what conditions are required for an infection to take place and why things like hugging, touching, sneezing, or kissing simply do not satisfy those conditions.

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How Does This Affect Safe Sex Practices

As we learn more about kissing as a means of spreading gonorrhea, we might find that standard safe sex practices alone dont adequately protect sexual partners from spreading or contracting gonorrhea. People who have multiple sexual partners might consider not exchanging saliva when kissing and to use protection when having oral sex.

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Is Hiv Transmitted Through Kissing Conclusion

Knowing more about how HIV is transmitted prevents the spread of the virus and prevents misconceptions about it. HIV cannot be spread through kissing, hugging, shaking hands, or the air.

Having protected sex, such as using a condom with an infected person, also prevents the spread of the virus. While the virus has no cure, there are HIV medications that have significantly reduced the chances of transmitting the virus. Its advisable to practice precautions that prevent the spread of HIV, such as practicing safe sex and limiting the number of sexual partners to curb the spread. Sexually active people should also be tested regularly to avoid transmitting HIV to more people.

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Can I Transmit Hiv To My Baby During Pregnancy Or Breastfeeding

An HIV-infected pregnant woman can pass the virus on to her unborn baby either before or during birth. HIV can also be passed on during breastfeeding. If a woman knows that she is infected with HIV, there are drugs she can take to greatly reduce the chances of her child becoming infected. Other ways to lower the risk include choosing to have a caesarean section delivery and not breastfeeding.

Can You Get Hiv Through Oral Sex

The risk of HIV from oral sex is very small unless you or your partner have large open sores on the genital area or bleeding gums/sores in your mouth.

There is only a slightly increased risk if a woman being given oral sex is HIV-positive and is menstruating. However, you can always use a dental dam to eliminate these risks.

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How Is Hiv Spread Through Blood

You can become infected if you have contact with the blood of someone who has HIV. Blood-borne infection with HIV can occur through:

• sharing injection equipment when using drugs
• getting tattoos or body piercings with unsterilized needles
• accidental needle sticks
• splashing blood in your eyes

HIV is NOT spread by blood passed through insect bites.

If you inject drugs, the best thing to do is to use new or sterilized injection equipment every time. You can also take a daily medication called pre-exposure prophylaxis to lower your risk of HIV. Learn more about PrEP.

Can I Get Hiv By Vaginal Sex

Yes, this is the most frequent mode of transmission of HIV. During sexual intercourse, you can create micro wounds which facilitate the transmission of the virus from a fluid to the bloodstream. It is also possible the direct absorption of HIV through the vaginal mucosa, as well as in men the virus can penetrate through the urethra. The risk of HIV infection increases if one partner has a sexually transmitted disease.

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What Stds Can Be Spread Through Kissing

Small microorganisms can cause STDs. Some of these microorganisms can live in your saliva, or they can cause sores in your mouth. This makes it easier for them to spread between people when they kiss, especially during deep, open-mouthed kissing.

Lets break it down into what STDs you can and cant get from kissing.

Ways That Hiv Is Not Transmitted

HIV is not transmitted by day-to-day activities or by contact with objects, food or clothes.

The following list includes just a few examples of questions we get from people worried about catching HIV.

Most of these questions come from a combination of fear and ignorance. They come from a lack of confidence in understanding HIV transmission.

You can NOT catch HIV from:

• Eating any food, cooked or uncooked, with blood on it.
• From a sterile needle at a clinic or other health centre.
• From a human bite.
• Using a knife/fork/spoon/cup/plate that an HIV positive person may have used.
• Getting sexual fluid on skin.
• Getting sexual fluid on a cut that has already healed over. A cut has to be open to be a risk of HIV.

The above are all real examples sent as questions to i-Base. They show that ignorance about HIV is still common.

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How Long Does It Take For Hiv To Cause Aids

Since 1992, scientists have estimated that about half the people with HIV develop AIDS within 10 years after becoming infected. This time varies greatly from person to person and can depend on many factors, including a persons health status and their health-related behaviors.

Today there are medical treatments that can slow down the rate at which HIV weakens the immune system. There are other treatments that can prevent or cure some of the illnesses associated with AIDS, though the treatments do not cure AIDS itself. As with other diseases, early detection offers more options for treatment and preventative health care.

How Effective Are Latex Condoms In Preventing Hiv

Studies have shown that latex condoms are highly effective in preventing HIV transmission when used consistently and correctly. These studies looked at uninfected people considered to be at very high risk of infection because they were involved in sexual relationships with HIV-infected people. The studies found that even with repeated sexual contact, 98-100 percent of those people who used latex condoms correctly and consistently did not become infected.

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Viral Load & Medications

If someone has HIV, this does not mean that they are restricted to celibacy. Many people with HIV still continue to have safe, enjoyable sex lives without spreading the virus. Always using a condom or barrier method is an important first step to prevent the sharing of HIV containing fluids.

Antiretroviral therapy : Another way to help decrease the risk of spreading HIV is to lower a personâs viral loadâthe amount of HIV in a personâs blood. Viral loads can be lowered using medications called antiretroviral therapy . These medications can lower the HIV viral load so much that HIV may not even be detectable on a blood testâthis is called an undetectable viral load . When a persons viral load in undetectable, they have effectively no risk of transmitting the HIV virus to a non-infected partner . Taking these medication will help keep a person with HIV healthy while also helping prevent the spread of HIV to another person. This is not a cure, however. If medication is taken incorrectly or stopped, HIV viral loads will increase again and transmission can occur. Condoms and other barrier methods should still always be used during sex .