AIDS/HIV Shuts Down Porn

Those fears are being taken up by public health officials who are considering mandating safety procedures on porn sites.

"This is an industry that's been largely ignored.  We don't really know how many people have been exposed and infected in the course of their employment," claims Peter Kerndt, director of the sexually transmitted disease program for the Los Angeles County health department.

Others counter that such strict regulation will push porn makers back underground – pushing any AIDS/HIV epidemic prevention beyond the control of officials.  “They will go back underground which just raises the risk of disease,” says Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation.

In any case porn actors need to protect themselves on the set.  We need to protect ourselves in our own bedrooms. How?  By knowing how you can get or not get the virus.

Neither can you get the virus from casual kissing such as a kiss on the cheek of an infected person or even most open mouth kissing. Prolonged open-mouth kissing could damage the mouth or lips and allow HIV to pass from an infected person to a partner and then enter the body through cuts or sores in the mouth. Because of this possible risk, the CDC recommends against open-mouth kissing with an infected partner.

The easiest way to get the virus is through unprotected sex.  Obviously, protection is the way to lessen your chances of getting the virus.  Abstinence is the best protection against the virus.  Staying with committed sexual partners such as in a marriage is also a great way to avoid the virus.

If you insist on taking chances though, here are some less protective methods.

Know the person you have sex with. It sounds like a cliché but is true that the sexual history of any person you have sex with becomes part of your sexual history. If he had sex with a partner who was infected with HIV, it is likely the partner has HIV and you will get it.  The same applies to most other sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Whatever a partner has, you have a good chance of getting it too.

It is possible for either sex partner to become infected with HIV during anal sex.

Though the probability is lower, you can get the virus through oral sex too. And again it is possible for either partner to become infected with HIV through performing or receiving oral sex.  If the person performing oral sex has HIV, blood from their mouth may enter the body of the person receiving oral sex through the lining of the urethra; the lining of the vagina or cervix; the lining of the anus; or directly into the body through small cuts or open sores. Cells, lining the mouth of the person performing oral sex, may allow HIV to enter the body from the infected person receiving oral sex. The risk of HIV transmission increases if the person has cuts or sores around or in their mouth or throat.

And, obviously, you can get the virus from unprotected vaginal sex, more commonly known as intercourse. In fact, it is the most common way the virus is transmitted in much of the world.

During any form of sex, the risk for HIV infection increases if you or a partner has a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Briefly, if you have unprotected sex, you can get the virus.

How can you protect yourself?

• The experts all agree that abstinence is the most effective way to avoid the virus.
• The second most effective way to avoid the virus is only have sex with a committed non infectious partner.
• The third most effective way to avoid the AIDS/HIV virus is using a latex condom for all kinds of sex, and that even on the tongue for oral sex. If you or your partner is allergic to latex, plastic (polyurethane) ones can be used but any of these are not a total protection against the virus.  The only total protection is not having sex.