From: wwsf@earthlink.net
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 13:51:00 -0800
Subject: safe sex beyond hiv

I am concerned that almost no one is addressing safe sex as it relates
to other potentially deadly infectious agents, such as the various
hepatitis viruses, and I'm contacting you because you are presumably
interested in information that promotes health.

As a fairly new watersports enthusiast, I am suprised that so little
information is available about safe sex relating to urine. Rimming and
piss play are not that uncommon, and it seems iresponsible to me to
ignore these issues. 

It is frightening how little research has been done on these topics.
While there seems to be plenty of opinion floating around, I can locate
very little scientific or medical literature relating to them.

For example, I can't find any source for the often repeated idea that
one can catch hepatitis from rimming. My hepatologist has told me that,
in fact, hepatitis viruses are not found in shit, and that the few
viruses that have been isolated in urine are of such a low concentration
that it is an unlikely source of infection. 

On the other hand, nobody seems to know much about the short or long
term effects of ingesting the natural chemicals found in urine (such as
urea or bilirubin) nor to what degree or in what amounts alcohol and
other drugs are filtered out of the blood by the kidneys and passed on
through urine.

Perhaps this topic seems esoteric, but my experience suggests that a
fairly large number of people, both gay & straight, at least experiment
with rimming and piss play. Due to the extreme taboo related to shit,
very few who are into or have tried other scat activities are likely to
admit it, so we really have no idea how widely those activities are
practiced.  

I want to bring attention to this situation in order to spur more
research and help compile what science-based information exists so that
this information can be relayed via the safe sex information services
that already exist related to HIV. 

If you are interested in helping develop a richer base of knowledge,
have citations to research, or otherwise wish to pursue these topics,
please contact me through my e-mail address below. I am not a scientist,
I just value truth and care about my own health and the health of other
sexually active people.

wet willie (aka willie walker)

wwsf@earthlink.com