[Question #13256] STD Risk

1 months ago

Hi all,

Last night I had a one night stand with a random lady whose std status I do not know. We had unprotected vaginal sex maybe for 2 seconds before I put on a condom and then had protected vaginal sex for around 5 minutes max. What are the chances of contracting HSV-2 from this one encounter as well as any other STD(chlamydia, gonnorhea, syphillis, hiv)? And when should I get tested? I am worried since I have Crohn’s disease that getting HSV2 in particular or any other std could be worse outcome for myself.

Thanks!

Edward W. Hook M.D.

1 months ago

Welcome back to the Forum. I'll be glad to comment. The encounter you describe was low risk for all STIs. Most people do n0t have STIs and most single exposures do not lead to infection. Further, the brevity of your unprotected exposure also should be associated with lower, if any risk for STI. Testing is a personal choice and while your risk is quite low (less than 1% I suspect) many of our clients appreciate the additional assurance that a negative test provides. If you choose to test, the essential tests to obtain are a urine test for gonorrhea and chlamydia taken at lest 3-4 days after your exposure. As you know from your prior interactions with Dr. Handsfield, HIV testing will be of little use until 4-6 weeks after the exposure; the same is true for syphilis. I consider your risk for HIV and syphilis to be close to zero.

Your risk for herpes is less than 1 in 1000. If you are going to develop herpes lesions, which I am confident you will not, lesions would appear within 10 days of exposure. In the absence of lesions, we stronlgly recommend against blood tests for herpes.

I am not aware of any data to suggest that your Crohn's puts you at higher risk for STI or STI complications than compared to persons without Crohns.

I hope this information is helpful. EWH

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1 months ago

Hi Dr Hook,

Thanks for your detailed response. I suspect she could easily have an std and she had dodged my question about it over text and it was a one night stand (she said she’s had previous one night encounters in past).

If she were to have chlamydia,gonorhea, or herpes-2.. how much more likely would it be that I would get any of those from the few seconds of unprotected vaginal sex and then 5 min of protected vaginal sex?

Is it possible for symptoms such as itching in private area to occur a day after the sex as I have itching but maybe it’s made up in my head since I’m fearful of getting an std? Thank you.

Edward W. Hook M.D.

1 months ago

Itching is not a sign of STI and one day is too soon for STI symptoms to begin. OTOH, when nervous persons are looking for symptoms, they frequently notice otherwise normal sensations, usually as itching.

There are no scientific data on how the duration of an exposure affect risk of infection in the unlikely event that she was infected. It makes sense that transmission is more likely with longer duration of exposure but how much is unknown.

One follow up remaining. EWH

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1 months ago

Hi Dr Hook,

Thanks for your reply. If she was positive for HSv-2 (which she could be because she never disclosed her sti status) do you still think it would be around 1 in 1000 chance to contract hsv-2 from my one sexual encounter with her in vaginal sex which I had a condom on the entire time? I have done a test for hsv1/2 last year and both were negative I’m afraid on getting this virus and just want to know ur input on the chances from this most recent encounter.

Thanks very much for your responses.

1 months ago

To clarify like if she’s hsv-2 positive does that mean I have a greater chance than 1 in 1000 of getting it from the one encounter?

Edward W. Hook M.D.

1 months ago

I think you’re worrying far too much. Even if she had HSV-2, your risk of becoming infected is less than 1 in 1000. In other words, there is a greater than 99.9% chance that you were not infected and with each passing day that chance gets lower and lower. Please don’t worry. EWH.---