[Question #12556] Multiple encounters and worried

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7 months ago
I had non-penetrative sexual encounters recently. After clubbing with the 5th girl, who had a cough, I developed a cough, flu, sore throat, and an ulcer under my throat. Symptoms started three days later and cleared, except for the ulcer. My temperature has been 35.9 - 36.5°C, and I noticed a swollen lymph node in my right armpit two weeks ago. History of recent girls after previous hiv test: Girl 1: Raw blowjob. Girl 2: Handjob. Girl 3: Gloved anal fingering (prostate) + massage. Girl 4 (Nov 24): Frottage + rimming (me) + raw blowjob. Girl 5 (Jan 11): Frottage + kissing + raw blowjob + brief rimming (her) + sucking + boobjob. Girl 6 (Jan 16): Raw blowjob + kissing. Overall, could these symptoms and my encounters indicate HIV or another STD? Google suggests these might be signs.
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
7 months ago
Welcome to the forum. I'm happy to address these concerns.

You have been at little if any risk for HIV or any other STD. First, the encounters were low risk. The greatest risk for non-HIV STDs was from your recipe of unprotected oral sex. (I've never heard the term "raw blowjob", but it's a great description!) There has never been a proved HIV infection acquired by oral to penis transmission; the main risks are gonorrhea; nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) probably often due to normal oral bacteria and considered harmless; and herpes due to HSV1. Syphilis is possible but unlikely because of its rarity in most women in industrialized countries. Hand-genital contact, kissing, cunnilingus (oral-vagina) and analingus (oral-anal contact) rarely transmit STDs.

Symptoms like yours are rarely if ever caused by STDs or HIV. HIV can cause some of these symptoms, and three days since exposure is much too soon; although the other exposures in theory could have been responsible. However, the odds are probably 99% or more that you just caught a cold, or conceivably influenza or covid. A single enlarge lymph node -- if that's what explains your armpit issue -- is never an indicator of HIV or any other STD. (Be very careful about reading lists or symptoms and concluding HIV or STD is responsible just because one or two of them are present. Single symptoms on their own rarely indicate HIV or other STD.

For reassurance, I would suggest you have urine tests and a throat swab for gonorrhea and chlamydia; these are valid any time after 4-5 days since exposure. Also for reassurance, blood tests for syphilis and HIV could be considered and the standard tests are valid 6 weeks or more after exposure -- so depending on exact timing, you might do these now and again when 6 weeks have passed since your most recent clubbing event. Or if especially concerned about HIV, you could have a PCR RNA test, for which negative results are conclusive 11 days after exposure. Ideally you would see a doctor or clinic in person, but such tests are directly available at many labs. Whatever you choose, you can expect negative results for everything. (I would advise avoiding many labs' "comprehensive" test panels, which include several tests that are unnecessary or unreliable.)

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

HHH, MD
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7 months ago
Hi Dr Hansfield, thank you for your knowledge. I am feeling uneasy after reading what you said but just want to check - Do I need to worry about HIV in this scenarios I've had? Especially the ones where I rimmed, was rimmed and received fellatio from? 

Also, Is testing necessary?  
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
7 months ago
My comments were intended to be highly reassuring. What about them makes you "uneasy"? As I said above, nobody has ever been known to have acquired HIV by receiving oral sex and the same is true of oral-anal contact.

Whether testing is "necessary" is entirely up to you. I suggested you consider it only for the reassurance of the negative result; from a medical/risk standpoint you don't need it.
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