I understand that oral thrush is one of the symptoms of HIV. The only unprotected activities I have ever done in the past with women is cunnilingus or anilingus. Would you say that the chances of HIV being the cause of my thrush is low?  I know the cause is not any medications such as antibiotics as I have not taken any recently.

You are correct about the low risk of cunnilingus for STD transmission. And although we try to avoid directly contradicting users' doctors, I am skeptical about yeast infection (thrush) as the cause of your symptoms. Virtual diagnosis of yeast is highly inaccurate, and 1 days is awfully quick for onset of symptoms. I can't say it's impossible -- entirely healthy women often have yeast in the vagina -- but it won't be surprising if the medication makes no difference. (However, even a little physical irritation would clear up in a couple of day -- if your symptoms improve, fine, but even that won't confirm yeast as the cause.)

Yeast infections are a common complication of advanced HIV infection, i.e. overt AIDS. They rarely accompany recently acquired infection, and certainly could not start sooner than a few weeks after exposure. And there has never been a scientifically documented case of HIV transmission by cunnilingus.

I really wouldn't worry about this and would not advise testing for HIV or any other STD -- unless you decide to have a throat swab for gonorrhea, the only STD of any significant likelihood at all.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

 

You mentioned gonorrhea as a possibility and I wondered if it was possible to evaluate how likely it was that I could acquire it from cunnilingus if the other person was infected. I don't have any symptoms but I know that gonorrhea often doesn't cause symptoms in oral cases. I wouldn't want to pass it on unwittingly to somebody by kissing or through cunnilingus. So would you recommend I get a throat wab?

Even though gonorrhea is among the most common STD risks from cunnilingus, it's still rare. (My colleague Dr. Hook was senior author on the main study showing very low risk of gonorrhea). Probably under one chance in many thousand you were infected, maybe under one chancer in millions -- although of course this depends on the level of STD risk in your partner. When oral gonorrhea is present, it is rarely if ever transmitted by kissing or cunnilingus. If I were in your situation, I would not feel any need for testing. But of course you're free to do it if a negative test result would help reassure you.

That concludes this thread. Thanks for the thanks; I'm glad to have helped.