Transitioning from incarceration to the community: Reducing risks and improving lives of people who use substances. More options for HIV testing in Canada. Anal sex is a common practice among men who have sex with men, heterosexual men and women, and transgender individuals and is a known risk factor for HIV infection and transmission. Therefore, it is important that education on HIV prevention includes accurate information on the fluids that can transmit HIV through this type of sex. If one of these fluids is excluded from prevention messaging, it could lead a client to underestimate their risk of HIV transmission. While there is no doubt that semen, pre-ejaculate pre-cum , and blood can contribute to the risk of HIV transmission through anal sex; it seems there is less clarity among frontline service providers on whether rectal fluid should also be included on this list. This article looks at what rectal fluid is, whether or not it can contain and transmit HIV, and the implications for prevention education.

After couple-years of follow-up and 77, acts of unprotected anal intercourse, no HIV transmission from HIV-positive partners took place and the researchers concluded that the risk of HIV transmission in these circumstances was effectively zero Rodger. If viral load is detectable, condomless anal intercourse is a highly efficient way of transmitting HIV, and it is considered a high-risk activity for both partners, although the exact degree of risk can depend on many factors. For each condomless act with an untreated HIV-positive partner, the risk of infection has been estimated at 1.

Heterosexual anal intercourse is rarely discussed in the scientific literature. Review of the literature suggests the silence is linked to ethnocentric discomfort about it among researchers and health care providers, coupled with the misconception that anal sex is a homosexual male practice, not heterosexual. Sexually transmitted disease STD data, especially where only the rectum is infected with gonorrhea or other STD agents, buttresses survey data.