[Question #10412] Possible STD
23 months ago
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I am a 41 year old female who recently gave oral with no protection to a guy. After learning lots about him I found out all he said was lies. He did go all the way and I swallowed the semen. Now 12 days later I woke up and the left side of my throat is so sore. No fever so far. Just the bad sore throat. I have genital warts and had no intercourse but do worry about hpv a lot.
Could I have got some type of std from this encounter that is now causing the sore throat?
As far as hpv and me dealing with the genital warts that I have dealt with for years are the chances high as far as getting hpv related cancers later in life? I was unfortunately never vaccinated against hpv.
At what point should I test for stds from this encounter?
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
23 months ago
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Welcome to our Forum and thanks for your questions. I'll do my best to answer and hope that my relies will be helpful.
I'm sorry your partner has been untruthful with you. Despite that, i was a relatively low risk exposure. Most people do not have STIs and most single exposures to persons with untreated infection do not lead to infection. Oral infections are rather uncommon but do occur. The most common infections acquired from performing oral sex on an infected person is gonorrhea. It is unlikely that your sore throat is due to gonorrhea. When persons acquire oral gonorrhea they are typically asymptomatic and do not experience fever. That said, if you wish to be entirely sure that you did not acquire oral gonorrhea, a throat swab tested for gonorrhea at this time will give accurate results. It is far more likely that your sore throat is one of the day-to-day non-STI viral sore throats than most of us get from time to time.
Regarding HPV and genital warts, most (over 85%) sexually active persons will acquire HPV at some point and nearly all of these infectious are innocuous problems which will go away on their own if untreated. Your risk for HPV-related cancer is low- less than 1-2% of HPV infections go on to cause pre-cancerous lesions and these abnormalities are easily detect by routine GNY screening tests (i.e. PAP smears and when indicated, HPV tests). As you are seeing your GYN for routine screening, I would not be worried about HPV-related cancer.
I hope that this information is helpful. If any part of my comments are unclear, lease use your up to two follow-ups for clarification. EWH
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23 months ago
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After being sick and the sore throat has now subsided and I just have lots of nasal congestion now I think I have sinus or allergy issues but I woke up this morning and there was a red bump in my vaginal area that’s sore to the touch. It’s only one bump. If this is due to herpes is can’t be from this encounter it would have to be from a past encounter that’s been 3 months. Could this bump be a herpes sore? Now I’m so confused. I’m thinking maybe since I’m sick and my immune system is low I could be experiencing and outbreak which I have never had before.
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
23 months ago
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There are no STIs which are associated with nasal congestion or sore throat. This still sounds like an "every day" upper respiratory tract infection.
You are correct, the timing of your vaginal lesion is wrong for recently acquired herpes. If you'd acquired HSV, any lesions that were going to occur would have done would have appeared within 10 days of exposure. Further, herpes would not present as a bump but would quickly become a shallow open sore. What you describe sounds more like folliculitis (a non-STI "hair bump") than anything else. The best way to have it evaluated however is to have a trained clinician take a look.
Hope this helps. I really would not worry. EWH
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23 months ago
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I have read a lot on it. I noticed a 2nd pimple looking bump on the other side of my vagina as the first bump was. I did squeeze it and it looked like clear liquid came out. Its back to looking like a pimple again. How does herpes look different? I am just very confused with the timing. If this is a herpes outbreak then the encounter would have been at least 3 months or longer ago. Can this happen for an outbreak to occur that long after? It's like I was fine the night before and then woke up and it was there when I showered.
23 months ago
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The pain I am experiencing isn't severe. But its sore to touch and its slightly itchy.
23 months ago
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Not sure if this would make a difference but I did dab alcohol on the spots and it did burn. I read if it burns it’s more than likely herpes over something else. Is this true?
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
23 months ago
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Thanks for the additional information. You are asking "if it is..." questions. You do not know that this is HSV and even with a 2nd lesion, this really dose not sound like a description of herpes lesions. Herpes lesions typically start as small lesions filled with clear fluid, not as bumps, and within hours go on to break open (without squeezing) to form shallow ulcerations. The discomfort of HSV lesions is highly variable and can be mild-moderate.
Trying to sort our when someone got HSV once lesions appear is difficult. As I mentioned, most typically when most persons acquire herpes, lesions appear within 10 days of an exposure but there are rare persons who take longer until their first outbreak
---I still think the starting point for sorting this out is to get yourself examined by an experienced clinician who can test if testing is warranted. In addition, I would stay off the internet which is more often misleading than is helpful in situations such as these.
I hope that the information I've provided has been helpful. As I suspect you know, we provide up to 3 responses to each client's questions, so this will need to be the final response. Take care. EWH