Oral sex is not likely to transmit HIV under most circumstances. Many large studies have shown that a person living with HIV who takes HIV drugs and has an undetectable viral load too little virus in the body for a standard test to measure cannot transmit the virus to their sexual partners. This includes any kind of sex, including oral sex β and sex without using condoms or barriers. A number of studies have tried to figure out the exact level of HIV transmission risk that oral sex poses, but this is not easy to do.
When HIV is transmitted, it is difficult to tell if oral sex or another activity that poses more risk was responsible. The chances of HIV being passed from one person to another depend on the type of contact. HIV is most easily spread or transmitted through unprotected anal sex, unprotected vaginal sex, and sharing injection drug equipment that has not been cleaned.
Unprotected sex means sex in which no condoms, other barriers, or HIV treatment-as-prevention methods are used. HIV treatment as prevention TasP includes having an undetectable viral load, as described above.
There is HIV in sexual fluid from the vagina vaginal secretions , sexual fluid from the penis semen or ejaculate, also called "cum" and "pre-cum" , and blood. HIV cannot ever be transmitted through saliva spit. Please see our fact sheet on HIV Transmission for much more information on this topic. It is important to note that it is possible to get other STIs, such as syphilis, herpes, gonorrhea, and human papilloma virus HPV , through oral sex without condoms or barriers.
If a partner who is living with HIV has an undetectable viral load, their risk of transmitting HIV during oral sex is zero, whether or not they use the tips below. The tips below can lower that chance even further. For more information about safer options for sexual pleasure, including oral sex, see our Safer Sex fact sheet.
