# Help clear up a little ignorance about HIV/AIDS transfer **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 12, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-clear-up-a-little-ignorance-about-hiv-aids-transfer/233920 "2004-03-12T16:41:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-clear-up-a-little-ignorance-about-hiv-aids-transfer/233920/1 "2004-03-12T16:41:11Z")
Okay, so a while back, I was discussing with some friends about sex and the like, and someone made the comment that among the three groups, heterosexual couples, gay male couples, and lesbian couples, lesbian couples have the lowest percentage of HIV/AIDS population because, outside of dealing with menstrua, there’s really no way they can contract the disease through sex. I was always under the impression that vaginal fluids at any time still were a hazard for HIV/AIDS transfer, but they were under the impression that they weren’t. So, what’s the facts on this? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-clear-up-a-little-ignorance-about-hiv-aids-transfer/233920/2 "2004-03-12T17:38:31Z")
The vaginal fluids of infected women DO contain the HIV virus. (If they didn’t, males would have a lot less reason to worry about getting HIV from their female partners!) However, unless two women have cuts or sores on their hands, mouths, or whatever other body parts they’re involving in the action, or unless they’re sharing sex toys, they generally have a very low risk of transmission compared to straight or gay male couples. (A nice article on lesbians and HIV, the information in which I used to make the above generalizations, can be found [here](http://www.thebody.com/apla/apr00/lesbians.html).) In fact, when there WAS a confirmed case of female to female transmission through sexual activity, it actually [made the news](http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=1847). Lesbians have it pretty good, but, sadly, not THAT good. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-clear-up-a-little-ignorance-about-hiv-aids-transfer/233920/3 "2004-03-12T18:10:43Z")
> [@elfbabe](#): > > The vaginal fluids of infected women DO contain the HIV virus. Do you have a cite for this? Because it has always been my understanding that there are only two things that can carry the AIDS virus: infected blood and infected semen. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-clear-up-a-little-ignorance-about-hiv-aids-transfer/233920/4 "2004-03-12T18:13:51Z")
**elfbabe** : I stand corrected; you provided a cite. ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-clear-up-a-little-ignorance-about-hiv-aids-transfer/233920/5 "2004-03-12T18:15:00Z")
A cite? But of course! From [http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/faq/faq19.htm:](http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/faq/faq19.htm:) > [@](#): > > If the person receiving oral sex has HIV, their blood, semen (cum), pre-seminal fluid (pre-cum), or vaginal fluid may contain the virus. On preview… well, extra citing never hurts, I guess.