• Wet Kissing: is safe unless either of you has a cut or sore in your mouth, or bleeding gums. (After you brush or floss your teeth, wait at least 1/2 hour before kissing.) Blood, not saliva, contains the virus.
• Touching your lover's breasts is safe. You can lick, suck, kiss and bite them too-as long as there's no blood or breast milk. Massage, dry kissing, masturbation (touching yourself), and body-to-body rubbing are all safe.
• Putting your fingers inside her can be risky. To be safe, wear latex gloves. If you use a lubricant, be sure it is water-based. (Oil-based lubricants like Vaseline and hand lotion will damage the latex.)
• Sores or cuts on your fingers, mouth or vagina-or hers- increase the risk. They can provide a way for the virus to get inside you. If you touch her vagina and then touch your own (or vice-versa,) you could spread the virus. Be sure to use gloves in between!
• Contact with menstrual blood is very risky. If she is infected, her menstrual blood (like other blood) will have a lot of virus in it.
• Oral sex on a woman is risky, especially when she has her period. To make it safe, cover her vulva (genital area) with a piece of plastic wrap. This will keep her fluids out of your mouth. Latex dams -also called "dental dams"—are safe to use for oral sex too.
• Sex toys are safe by themselves, but it is risky to share them. If you share dildoes or vibrators, cover them with a condom and put on a fresh one every time it is used by a different person.
• Getting pregnant can be risky. If you have sex with a man or have a man donate sperm to you, make sure he tests HIV negative at least 6 months after his last possible risk. (All licensed sperm banks test their donors carefully.)
STDs
• STDs/STIs affect people of all ages, backgrounds, and from all walks of life, about half of which occur among youth ages 15-24 years .
Yeast Infection: This infection, also known as candidiasis, is caused by a yeast overgrowth which disrupts normal vaginal flora. Certain yeast (candida) normally live in the vagina in relatively low numbers without causing a problem. Symptoms are: burning &/or itching of the vulva, vagina; thick white discharge with cottage cheese appearance; possible yeasty odor. Treatment: anti-fungal creams, suppositories, or oral anti-fungals (tablets).
Chancroid: Chancroid is a highly contagious sexually transmitted disease (or STD), but it is curable. Swollen, painful lymph glands in the groin area are often associated with chancroid. Left untreated, chancroid may make the transmission of HIV easier. Chancroid is transmitted by: Sexual transmission through skin-to-skin contact with an open sore and Non-sexual transmission by means of autoinoculation when contact is made with the pus-like fluid from the ulcer.
Crabs: Crabs (also known as pubic lice) are small parasites that feed on human blood. Crabs are not the same as head and body lice. Crabs are usually found on the pubic hair, but can be also be found on other parts of the body where a person has coarse hair (such as armpits, eyelashes, and facial hair). Crabs rarely infest head hair. Crabs is transmitted by: the close physical contact, the crabs can move from the pubic hair of one person to the pubic hair of another. Crabs can be sexually transmitted even if there is no penetration or exchange of body fluids. The most noticeable symptom is: itching. The itching usually starts about 5 days after a person gets crabs.
Gonorrhea: Gonorrhea is transmitted during vaginal, anal, and oral sex (performing or receiving). Although most women infected are asymptomatic (without symptoms), women who develop symptoms will do so within 10 days of infection. Gonorrhea can be transmitted even if the tongue does not enter the vagina, mouth, or rectum. Using latex condoms and dental dams from the very beginning of sexual contact until there is no longer skin contact reduces the risk of transmission of gonorrhea.
Hepatitis: Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that can be caused by a group of viruses. There are 5 different types: A, B, C, D, E & F. Hepatitis is transmitted by: Sexual activity poses a different level of risk for each type of viral hepatitis, but is most closely associated with HBV. Blood transfusion, IV needle sharing, and organ transplants may also pose a risk for transmission.
Herpes: Herpes simplex virus can cause symptoms on the mouth (oral herpes) or genitals (genital herpes). Hepatitis is transmitted by: Herpes is most easily spread from genital-to-genital or oral-to-genital contact during an active outbreak or during prodrome—the few days just before an outbreak. The surest way to prevent the spread of genital herpes is to avoid sexual contact during an active outbreak and to use condoms for sexual contact between outbreaks.
Syphilis: A person can get syphilis from another person if the soft skin of the mucous membrane found inside the vagina, urethra and anus or a cut/abrasion come into contact with an infected lesions, found during primary & secondary syphilis, during vaginal, oral and anal sex, even if there is no sexual penetration. Syphilis can be detected by a blood test, which looks for antibodies developed by the body. It can sometimes take a week to a few months to develop enough antibodies for a blood test to detect. Syphilis is curable with antibiotics, and the preferred treatment is penicillin.
THESE ARE ONLY A FEW STDs. We suggest you contact your doctor or local health department for more information.
