I've read about Ariana Jolie's recent European 65 man creampie and Victoria Givens plans for a 150 man anal gangbang using some fans. I'm posting some comments on STD transmission and testing in hopes that the information will be useful to someone.

Testing doesn't prevent STD transmission. It only tells you if you have contracted a disease, so that you can avoid infecting other people. Sharon Mitchell has said several times that the AIM program is a harm reduction program, not a prevention program.

There's a period of several days after the initial infection during which the level of HIV virus in the body is so low that the tests won't detect it. CDC conservatively estimates this period to be fourteen days. Ernest Greene has told me that in practice AIM can detect the virus after seven days. If that's true, and if a porn performer is infected and gets tested every twenty eight day, there's a twenty five percent chance that the first test after the infection will not detect the infection. The outbreak of HIV last spring occurred because Darren James was tested after he was infected but before his viral load increased to the point that it could be detected by the PCR-DNA test.

The chances of a person with the HIV virus infecting another person through sex depend partly on the viral load. If the viral load is low enough that it can't be detected, there is little chance of the person infecting another person through normal sex. However, once infection occurs, the viral load increases at an exponential rate, which means it increases very fast. It is possible for a person's viral load to be too low to detect one day, and high enough to cause an infection the next day. Also, extreme forms of sex, like double anals, increase the chances of infection. You can be infected by someone with a negative HIV test.

The AIM testing program partially overcomes the problems with tests by testing all performers in LA once a month. Performers are protected, not only by the fact that the performers they work with are tested, but also by the fact that the performers they work with have worked only with other performers who have been tested. If everyone is tested once a month, the testing program becomes a very effective way of reducing the risk of infection. However, the test without the testing program is not as effective. The test has to be used as part of the AIM program or a similar program to reduce the risk of a false negative.

Condoms, if used every time you have sex, are the most effective way to reduce the risk of infection. However, in areas where the porn industry relies on condoms instead of a testing program, there seems to be a higher rate of infection among performers. The reason is that condoms are effective only if used all the time, and it appears that there is always some pressure on performers to work without condoms. That means that condoms aren't used consistently by all performers, and STDs, including HIV, are able to spread.

Another advantage of the AIM testing program is that tests are administered by a single organization, and the test results are printed out on a standardized form. There have been cases outside of LA where a performer forged the test results. This wasn't caught immediately because the other performers weren't familiar with the result forms and didn't realize that some information was missing. A standardized form helps prevent forged test results.

Here is a list of STD-control measures, listed from most effective to least effective.

1) Universal condom use plus regular, universal testing. Any time a condom is used, it almost eliminates the risk of STD infection, except for chlamydia. Testing allows performers to avoid having sex with infected performers. Together, they are incredibly effective.

2) Regular, universal testing. Of all the public health measures currently being used to control STDs, this is the single most effective.

3) Regular use of condoms. In the absence of universal testing, the only way individuals can protect themselves is by always using condoms.

4) One shot testing. Performers from LA who go to other areas and work with performers who get tests just for that one shoot, or performers who have sex with fans who get tested beforehand get some protection, but not as much as they would get from regular, universal testing. All of the problems described above apply in this case, since there's no testing program to reduce the risk of false negatives. Having anal sex increases the risk of infection even more. Having sex with sixty five men increases the risk sixty five times. Having anal sex with one hundred fifty men increases the anal sex risk one hundred fifty times.

5) Using condoms inconsistently, using tests inconsistently, doing nothing. These all have roughly the same risk. Using any disease control measure inconsistently is not much better than not using it at all.

If you are not using condoms, there are certain acts that will increase the risk of HIV transmission. These are anal, double vaginal, double anal, and creampies. Jessica Dee, Laura Roxx, and Miss Arroyo were all infected with HIV during double anal creampies. The only thing I know of that is riskier is sharing intravenous needles.

I'm not trying to scare anyone out of porn. I'm not trying to stop people from performing certain acts. I'm just asking each individual performer to be aware of the risks and think carefully about what they're doing. Regardless of what you are doing, there are steps you can take to reduce your risk of infection, even if you can't eliminate it. Decide what you're willing to do and decide on the safest way to do it. If you are going to do creampies, try to use male performers who are tested monthly and work with female performers who are tested monthly. If you are going to work with fans, PCR-DNA tests are better than ELIZA because they detect an HIV infection sooner, and condoms are even better because they block infections.

Not only is your body is beautiful, it pays the rent. Use it carefully.

With affection and concern,
Ren Galskap

Topic Moved by - DenverDon on Oct 4 2004