Can you get an STD from Oral Sex if you and your partner are both virgins?
Is it possible to get any kind of STD from Oral sex if both partners are virgins and have never had sex with anyone before?
My thoughts were that you would have to have sexual relations with someone who is already infected or has contracted the disease in order to catch an STD.
but, if both partners are virgins and are clean, is there any STD risk? This is oral sex, by the way.
September 7th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Venerealy, it’s near impossible for two virgins to contract something. The only other chance (which is really, really small) is if one person of this party was pricked by a dirty needle, or was born with Hepatitis, or something of that nature.
In summation, it’s pretty impossible for two virgins to give or get and STD from each other.
September 7th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Contrary to what many think, it actually IS possible for a couple to acquire an STD from each other even if both are virgins and neither has an STD now.
Here is the explanation. Many diseases exist in two forms, one form transmitted orally — mouth to mouth — and a parallel related form transmitted genitally — genital to genital. However, in some cases the oral form can infect the genitals, and vice versa, if there is a contact pathway.
Herpes is the primary example of this that is on the rise in the world today. HSV-1 is the form normally transmitted mouth-to-mouth, HSV-2 the form normally transmitted genital-to-genital. But if HSV-1 infects the gentials, then it subsequently can be passed from genital to genital. That is the definition of an STD, or STI as some prefer to say. (See the article listed under “sources” below for a discussion of this point.)
So you see, if neither partner has any STD but one of them has HSV-1, even though they show no symptoms, the other can become infected genitally if there is any oral-to-genital pathway. Then the newly infected partner can pass it genital-to-genital back to the first and both become infected with and STD. Or it can be transmitted genitally to some other partner, should any ever exist.
The probability of this is not low. The prevalence of HSV-1 varies from country to country, but let’s say for sake of example that 60% of adults have it (roughly right for the U.S. today). That means 40% do not have it. And that means that the chance that one partner has it, therefore is infectious, and the other doesn’t, therefore is susceptible, is 0.6 x 0.4 = 0.24. In other words, there would be almost a 1-in-4 chance that an STD would appear in this couple, even though neither had it before, if there is any oral-to-genital pathway.
While ordinary diseases have been drastically dropping, sexually transmitted diseases are rapidly rising. Conquering them is one of the great challenges for the 21st century. Proper awareness is one of the first steps.