The problem is, as I understand it, that many studies of HIV transmission are inaccurate to the extent that rely on the person who contracted the disease to be absolutely truthful in detailing the exact specifics of instances of unprotected/protected sex, with who, and what kinda of sex eg anal/vaginal/oral
This hobby, to the general public, is still stigmatized, and the majority of hobbyists, who have families, SOs, etc, are unlikely to be completely truthful in detailing every sexual encounter that may have lead to them contracting HIV even to a trusted doctor. Therefore it is hard to narrow it down to a particular encounter.
There, as I understand it, has never been a single documented case of HIV passing through solely oral contact, on either end of the spectrum. It is hard to prove, as people who are prone to unprotected oral sex, can also be prone to unprotected vaginal or anal sex, so people who have gotten HIV, like splooge's friend, might have engaged in unprotected vaginal/anal sex and gotten it there. Anal is the highest rate of transmission I believe, and then vaginal. Condoms are highly effective in stopping HIV transmission, although not 100%
Other diseases, which are not fatal like HIV, like gonorrhea and herpes are much more easily transmitted through oral sex than HIV, although again, since the statistics that are presented to the general public are not explained properly, the horror stories that you hear that 1/3 of the general public has herpes, does not clearly explain how transmission occurred, and whether the infected were engaged in multiple high-risk unprotected activities or just one activity.
The other thing to remember (and I may be wrong on this one) but when you look at rates of transmission of STDs, the studies are based on many repeated exposures. For example if you have herpes and you have sex with your wife 100 times, she might contract it 8% of the time. However, if you have unprotected sex with one SP once, then your transmission rate goes down appropriately, minus mitigating factors such as an open sore or wound.
Having said all that, the idea that SPs are somehow 'safer' than civilians is laughable and a dangerous illusion. It is a simple question of volume. I have no idea, although I'm sure there's studies, that show the average number of sexual partners in a lifetime for the average woman, and despite rumors to the contrary it is very low, just as the number of sexual partners for an average male is. If you assume that a civilian has had sex with 40 men in her life (and I'm counting solely oral encounters as well), well even a SP with a relatively low-volume of clients easily surpasses that within six months, and that's generous. Now every SP I've been with, has always worn a condom for FS completely unprompted, but rarely for oral, and while I always prefer BBBJ, I would never wave off the condom, and given the way the definition of GFE/PSE has made BBBJ/DATY nearly standard across the industry, and just given the amount of potential exposures, it's a question of math. As well, I think people here like to think there's a thick line between SPs who offer BBFS, and those who don't, and it's easy to distinguish. I don't think it is that easy, and I have a feeling, that it would surprise a lot of guys how many guys push and push for, and get BBFS, even in the so-called higher end of the spectrum
Also, this isn't the 70s anymore, the risk of STDs is fairly well known, even to the general public, and I've always found that civilians tend to err on the safe side anyway. Also, in the case of most STDs, if even basic medical care is applied, as a SP, you can work with a STD, and while I'm sure there's many who wouldn't on moral grounds, there's also many who would. Rent has to be paid, and it's a lot better to be someone with herpes who has an apartment, than a homeless herpes victim
I do believe the rate of transmission of HIV is fairly similar, to civilian girls, but again, that's taking a fairly narrow chunk of the industry. If you include streetwalkers, and the lower-end of the industry, than I would imagine the rate of transmission compared to civilian girls goes higher
Obviously I'm not saying that even a majority of the agency SPs have STDs, I'm just saying to simply dismiss risks is dangerous.