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Danny Pintauro Responds To Critics Of Oral HIV Transmission: "Could I Be Wrong? Of Course"

The newly-minted HIV advocate maintains that meth use dramatically increases the odds of contracting HIV.

HIV advocate Danny Pintauro received more blowback than praise after revealing he contracted the HIV virus through oral sex during an interview with Us Weekly on Monday, further proving how misinformed the public is about certain aspects of the virus.

Related: Danny Pintauro Says He Contracted HIV Through Oral Sex: “It’s That Easy”

Though it's rare and unlikely, it's not impossible for the HIV virus to be transmitted via oral sex. Those odds increase dramatically when you add aggravating factors such as open lesions in a person's mouth, which Danny admits having at the time due to his substance abuse.

Though health officials and the CDC will tell you as much, the majority of those who responded to Danny's admission claimed he is lying and, more dramatically, spreading misinformation.

Pintauro heard his critics and responded with an exclusive statement to Perez Hilton. In it, he maintains that he contracted HIV through oral sex and "is confident that the back of my throat was compromised and when his bodily fluid came in contact with my mouth."

In his Us Weekly interview, Pintauro said, "I was the kind of guy who would do condom checks, you know, fill the condom with water afterwards to see if it leaked. I was that terrified, but drugs got involved."

"Could I be wrong?" he asks in his new statement. "Of course – it could potentially be a tear in the condom I didn't see (though even then he would have had to release bodily fluids into the condom for that to then leak through the tear, which he didn't)."

Pintauro adds: "If anything, saying it was oral is counterproductive to the message I'm trying to get across about people on meth losing their inhibitions and going condom-less. But it also ADDS to the argument I'm making that combining meth with sex in any way, shape, or form changes the odds of contracting HIV."

Read his full statement below:

"I was so upset when I figured out that it was through oral. I had been SO good! I know the exact person and occasion and on that day he wore a condom but ‘finished' in my mouth. So I've put two and two together and decided it was the oral. Could I be wrong? Of course – it could potentially be a tear in the condom I didn't see (though even then he would have had to release bodily fluids into the condom for that to then leak through the tear, which he didn't). Without going into great detail I am confident that the back of my throat was compromised and when his bodily fluid came in contact with my mouth…all hell broke loose. I mean, I've been so honest up to this point why would I start lying now? If anything, saying it was oral is counterproductive to the message I'm trying to get across about people on meth losing their inhibitions and going condom-less. But it also ADDS to the argument I'm making that combining meth with sex in any way, shape, or form changes the odds of contracting HIV. For multiple reasons: 1) meth causes mucosal dryness which increases risk of tissue tear… aka the tissue in my mouth was suffering from dry mouth… but this includes the other end as well, the tissue down there is more likely to tear so bare backing is more likely to put you at risk. 2) There are several studies that show meth increases the rate of HIV replication in the body so the person I was with (who was not on ART) likely had a high viral load compounded by the fact that he frequently did meth. So am I saying that someone engaging in normal/drug free oral sex is at a significant risk of getting HIV? No! Those odds are extremely low, almost non-existent. Am I saying that if you combine HIV and Meth those odds increase? Yes, and there's research to show this is quite likely. So I put two and two together."

Pintauro is expected to talk more candidly about the circumstances surrounding his transmission in an interview with HIV Equal which will be released tomorrow. Check out a teaser for the upcoming interview below:

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