TOLJA
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Granted, with the advent of new drug therapies, fear of HIV has subsided among both gays and straights. Granted also, this new study involves only slightly less guesswork than the one I based my original conclusion on. Still, to the extent that your higher cortical functions are engaged when you’re about to have sex, understanding how different behaviors affect your chance of getting HIV may reduce your risk of getting other sexually transmitted diseases.
To figure the combined risk of multiple behaviors, you multiply the relative risk numbers. In the table the baseline behavior (least risky by definition) is wearing a condom while getting fellated by someone who’s tested negative for HIV. The riskiest behavior is being the bottom during unprotected anal sex with someone who’s HIV positive. For gays this is 860,000 times more dangerous than their baseline, and for heterosexuals the risk increases by a factor of 9,412,000. That good old-fashioned blow job is looking better all the time.
Negative HIV test….1
Unknown HIV status….43
Insertive vaginal sex….10
Yes….1
