A service provided by the BC Centre for Disease Control
In the years since SmartSexResource launched, we have developed a library of questions asked by you, and answered by our expert sexual health nurses.
Our answered questions library cover a broad range of sexual health topics and common questions we hear at our clinics.
You cannot get HIV from sharing a cigarette because HIV is not passed by saliva. This is why it is not passed through kissing or sharing eating utensils either.
If there is old or dried blood on the cigarette, you will not get HIV because HIV does not live for long outside the body.
If there is a fresh blood and you had an open area (like a sore or cut) on your mouth, it is possible that you could get HIV. However, we do not see HIV being passed this way.
HIV is passed by blood, semen (including pre-cum), rectal fluids, vaginal fluids and breast milk. HIV can only be passed when the virus in one of these fluids gets into the body of an HIV-negative person. This can happen sexually during condomless vaginal/internal genital and anal/rectal sex. HIV is unlikely to be passed through oral sex or rimming. HIV can also be passed through sharing needles or other drug equipment. To learn more about how HIV and STIs are transmitted, see our ‘Know your chances’ page.
Hi
Here are the risks related to bbbj:
• Chlamydia, gonorrhea, HPV, herpes and syphilis are easily passed between both the giver and receiver with a bbbj
• There are no documented cases of HIV being passed to the person receiving a bbbj, so it is not considered a risk for HIV
• HIV is not commonly passed to the person giving a bbbj
Condoms lower the chances of passing most STIs.
Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.
Health Nurse
For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful
Hi
It is good to hear that you are feeling better.
If your partners have any questions you can certainly direct them our way. People have the option of asking a private or public question, or chat with a nurse. If your partners would prefer to talk on the phone or in person, we can help them find the best place given their concerns.
We are not aware of a dating site, but there are social and support groups in the Vancouver area for people with herpes and HPV. They describe themselves this way:
“While we are not a dating site, in the context of our social activities people do meet others that they may wish to date.”
Right now, there are no drugs or vaccines your partner can to take to prevent herpes, but there is a vaccine for some types of HPV. It is a good idea to talk to a healthcare provider to make the best decision about the HPV vaccine. ImmunizeBC is a good resource and you can also chat with a nurse who specializes in this area.
Antiviral medications, taken every day, can lower chance of passing on herpes. It called daily suppressive therapy. If you use the medication, along with avoiding sex during an outbreak and always using condoms, the chance of passing on the virus is much lower.
For counsellors you can check out:
The BC Psychological Association
The BC Association of Clinical Counsellors
Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.
Health Nurse
For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful.
The frenulum is the stretchy band of skin on the underside of the penis that connects the shaft to the head of the penis and the foreskin (if you are uncircumcised). This area is very sensitive and can deliver a lot of pleasure.
Sometimes the frenulum is tight and can tear during sex or masturbation. In most cases, the tear will get better without treatment. Be sure to keep the area clean and dry.
If the tear does not heal, you see signs of infection (redness, pain or pus) or the tear keeps happening, see your health care provider.
To prevent tearing, you may want to take it slow and use lubricant with masturbation and sex. Using condoms is a good idea to protect the area until it is healed, as whenever you have any tears or sores on your genital skin, you are more likely to get STIs and HIV.
Hi
In Canada, the INSTI Rapid HIV test is the only test licensed for use in healthcare settings and is the only one used in Vancouver clinics.
I don’t know how reliable the orasure or geodesic meditech tests are, or if they were studied when Health Canada approved the INSTI test.
Check out our clinic finder if you want to get tested in a clinic and need help finding one
Health Nurse
Kissing is, for the most part, a safe activity; most STIs are not commonly passed; however, herpes (sometimes referred to “cold sores”) is one that can be easily passed.
Sexually transmitted infections (STI) like gonorrhea and human papillomavirus (HPV) can also be passed with deep kissing, but they are not commonly passed this way.
Syphilis sores can be in the mouth, so it is possible to get syphilis from deep kissing. However, it is not a common way for syphilis to be passed.
Have a look at our ‘Know your chances’ and ‘Types of STIs’ pages to learn more about these STIs and how they are passed.
Hi
Gonorrhea, chlamydia and HIV are not passed this way.
It is possible, but not common, to pass the sexually transmitted infections (STI) that are spread through skin-to-skin contact. Those are herpes, genital warts and syphilis.
In general hand – genital contact is low risk for most STI. It is one of the safer ways you can have sexual contact.
Like you have suggested hand washing is a good idea.
Have a look at our “talk about it” web page it gives some suggestions on talking to partners about sex and STI testing.
Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.
Health Nurse
For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful.
Hi
Without all of your medical information and test results, it is difficult to answer some of your questions. For example, it is not possible to tell you what the 4.77 value means because interpretation of results depends on what type of test you had.
There are some things to know when using blood tests to diagnose HSV.
Depending on the test, there is a small chance of false positive and negative results.
A positive blood test tells you that HSV is probably in your body, but it does not tell you where it is in your body. Since many people have no symptoms, there is no way to know if they have HSV on the mouth, genitals, fingers or another part of the body.
In your case, a positive result tells you that you have the virus in your body, but it does not tell you whether the sores on your pubic area are HSV 2. The positive test result may be from a previous contact with HSV in another area of your body. For this reason, the BC Centre for Disease Control lab recommends swabbing the sore as the best way to test for HSV.
After the first outbreak of genital herpes, future outbreaks can appear anywhere in the `boxer shorts” area. This means HSV that first appears on the penis or labia, could come back in that area or in other areas such as the pubic area or bum.
I recommend you go back the health care provider who did the test and ask for more information. If you still have the sores on your pubic area, you could also ask your health care provider to swab the sores.
Have a look out our HSV page for more information. You can also check out the links at the bottom of that page for more information.
Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.
Health Nurse
For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful
Hi
Sexually transmitted infections (STI) like gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, herpes simplex virus (HSV) and genital warts (Human papillomavirus) are easily passed when a man receives oral sex without a condom (bbbj).
HIV is not passed to the person receiving oral sex. On the other hand, the person who is performing oral sex could get HIV. Generally, oral sex is not a common way to pass HIV.
While it is possible to get some STIs from oral sex, it always depends on whether the person giving you the bbbj has an STI in their throat.
Often people are not aware they have an STI, because they don’t get symptoms or see changes in their body. That is why we recommend regular testing (3 – 6 months) for people who have new partners, or if they or their partners have more than one partner.
We can test for gonorrhea and chlamydia with a urine test and most results are accurate after 2 weeks.
Condoms are a good way to prevent most STIs that you could get from a bbbj.
Check out STI at a Glance to find out when to get tested.
You can also use our clinic finder if you need help finding a place to go for testing.
Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.
Health Nurse
Hi
The standard HIV blood test we use in BC is 95% accurate after 6 weeks, but it can take up to 3 months to become positive.
You can takea a look at our STI at a glance chart for information on STI testing and how long to wait before getting a test.
Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.
Health Nurse
For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful.
