Experts Call Attention to HIV Risk From Oral Sex
Damian J. Anderson
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010705/hl/oralsex_1.html
Thursday July 5 1:19 PM ET
Experts Call Attention to HIV Risk From Oral Sex
By Stephen Pincock
LONDON (Reuters Health) - British public health officials warned Thursday
that the risk of contracting HIV from oral sex is higher than many
people think.
Although oral sex poses a much lower HIV risk than unprotected anal or
vaginal intercourse does, recent international research has shown that
it could be the cause of as many as 8% of HIV infections resulting from
sex between men, according to the UK's Public Health Laboratory Service
(PHLS).
"Most people feel oral sex is not a risk," but the latest studies
suggest that it leads to 30 to 50 new cases of HIV each year in the UK,
according to Dr. Barry Evans, head of the PHLS division of HIV and
sexually transmitted infections. These figures are higher than many
scientists have thought, he said.
"We're not trying to overstate the story, so to speak, by saying oral
sex is high-risk," Evans told Reuters Health. "It is not high-risk, but
people should realise there is a risk." He reiterated that most sexual
transmission results from unprotected vaginal or anal sex.
Other sexually transmitted diseases, such as syphilis and gonorrhea,
are also spread by oral sex. Evans said that recent outbreaks of syphilis
in Brighton, Bristol, London and Manchester have largely been driven by
unprotected oral sex.
With evidence mounting that oral sex is riskier than previously thought,
other UK public health experts are also alerting the public about
the danger.
In recent weeks, a Department of Health expert advisory group on AIDS
circulated a booklet advising that "the risk of HIV and other sexually
transmitted infections can be reduced by using a condom for all forms of
penetrative sex, including oral sex. If a condom is not used, avoiding
ejaculation into the mouth probably lessens (but does not eliminate)
the risk of HIV transmission."
The HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust has also begun an advertising
campaign in the gay press, warning of the health risks of oral sex.
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Damian J. Anderson <dam...@unification.net> http://www.unification.net