Can swallowing pre-cum from an HIV positive or AIDS infected man infect someone else?

Answer

The ambiguity is created by the fact that oral sex is often only part of the risky actions during sexual contact, and the degree of contact with ejaculate (the sperm released during ejaculation) is not always clear when interviews are conducted with infected persons.

However, it can be considered as proven that:

• oral sex penis mouth can transmit HIV infection in the recipient partner.
• this risk is increased if there are lesions in the mouth (eg bleeding from the gums)
• this risk is increased if the insertive partner (owner of the penis) is infected very recently or is in the symptomatic AIDS stage.

Receiving ejaculate in the mouth is thought to pose a higher risk than not doing so. However, hard evidence for this is lacking. In addition, pre-cum from HIV-infected individuals may contain contaminated cells (Pudney et al. Lancet. 1992;340: 1470) and thus should be considered potentially infectious.

In conclusion: although the risk is considered to be low, it is recommended to always use a condom during mouth-penis contact.