[Question #12133] Unprotected Sex

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10 months ago
Hi! I have a question regarding an unprotected oral/vaginal sex me a male circumcised with a female. Tomorrow, we will go to do a panel on HIV, Syphilis, Chlam, Gono, & Hep. She does have other partners, but most of them have been protected sex. Would her test be accurate? Her test and mine both came back negative. Should I worry about this round and test again in, let's say, six weeks? She has no apparent lesions of, let's say, herpes or warts. Should I get tested for herpes as well, or if I don't see symptoms, scratch it off and not worry about it? What about HPV?Thank you so much!
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
10 months ago
Welcome back to the forum. This is a different issue than your concerns in the past and I'm happy to help.

First, it seems very unlikely your partner has HIV, and most likely none of the other STDs you mention, except for HPV (more about which below). Second, I do not understand your comments about testing. You say you will be tested tomorrow, but also report that "Her test and mine both came back negative." Exactly what tests and when were they done? But if that was a fairly recent test -- in the past few weeks -- it confirms she is very unlikely to have any of those infections. Feel free to go ahead with both of you being tested tomorrow if you feel it necessary, but I'm not sure it is.

Herpes:  You had detailed discussions about your concerns over herpes in several questions a couple years ago, in which it was clear you were not at risk -- and we would never advise HSV testing after a new sexual exposure unless especially high risk, such as knowing for sure a regular partner has genital herpes. That doesn't seem to apply here.

HPV:  Almost everyone has been infected with HPV, often more than once, by the time they have had three or more lifetime sex partners. And some of those infections persist for months or years. Therefore, you can safely assume both you and your partner have had HPV, and conceivably could have an active infection at this time. In these circumstances, no single exposure, nor any particular new partner, is likely to raise your chance of HPV any higher than it already was. This really is nothing to be concerned about, unless someday you develop genital warts.

Let me know if anything isn't clear. If you like, consider waiting until you have your and your partner's results from tomorrow's tests and let me know the results. As you probably recall, threads are closed after two follow-up comments and replies. In the meantime, I hope these comments are helpful. 

HHH, MD
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10 months ago
Dear Dr. Handsfield,
Thank you very much for your quick reply. To clarify, I have had negative tests for all STIs, and well, she hasn't. That's why we plan to test tomorrow for the most basic panel. We should have our results on Thursday.
Her, let's say, last risk activity was in the last week of August when the condom broke. Since then, she has had two other partners and has used condoms consistently. If we were, let's try to test negative for the results. Should we go with these results, or should I test additionally, let's say, in 6 weeks? Thank you so much for your help, and I will return on Thursday after we have the results.
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
10 months ago
If her tests are negative, there is no point and no need for you to also be tested any time after sexual contact with her.---
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9 months ago
Dear Dr. Hansfield, thank you so much for your quick reply and assurance. Just wanted to give you an update today. We had both the results and they are negative. For hiv, syphilis, chlam and gono. My penis feels fine I’ve been having some dry skin but that’s about it. I also have a mean looking ingrown in the  mons pubis where the boxer band is, Just to play it safe I’ll go to the doctor on Saturday but I am not really thinking much of it. 
I won’t test for the dieses that were mentioned above and if I don’t develop classical blisters on the penis in the next two weeks. I’ll let it go. Also, HPV is a given so no worry about that. Just 1 question, we spoke about herpes before just to make sure a primary outbreak would most likely be in the penis and within 10 days to 14 ? Thank you so much for your help and keep up the amazing job! 
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
9 months ago
There is no risk of herpes or any reason to suspect it-- but first outbreaks primarily occur at sites of friction during sex, so your penis would be the most likely site. Neither herpes nor any other STI mimics ingrown hairs.

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