Can HIV Be Contracted Through Oral Sex?

Posted on Fri, 7 Oct 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 7 Oct 2016 Answered on

Thu, 27 Oct 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I have some enlarged pallipae on the back left side of my tongue. This had just started to make my tongue sore a day or so before. I had oral sex with a guy yesterday, and he has undectible HIV and is on medication. Is there any chance i could contract HIV from this? I tasted a bit of pre-ejaculate but he did not ejaculate in my mouth.

Answered by Dr. Kathy Robinson (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
not likely

Detailed Answer:
Hello and thanks for your question.
It is always best to use condoms when having sex with an HIV positive person even if they are on medications with undetectable viral load.
However, it is very unlikely that you would contract HIV from this type of encounter.
Having a non-detectable viral load does not mean there is no virus present, it means that there is either none present OR that it is in very low concentration.
Even if there were small amounts of virus present in the pre-ejaculate, as long as there were no open wounds in your mouth, the risk is extremely low.
It would be good for you to get a 4th generation HIV test now and again in 3 months just to make sure that you are negative.
Regards,
Dr. Robinson

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar