[Question #1896] Possible STI infection?
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78 months ago
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Good Morning,
3.5 months ago I received unprotected oral sex from a person whose background I don't know. after 25 days or so I was tested for STI's and the results were negative for all tests (HSV2, gonorrhea, Chlamydia, syphilis, Hep B, HIV, tricomonas, mycoplasma, ureaplasma, UTI). After about 80 days from exposure I was tested again and everything was again negative.
About 7 weeks after my exposure my regular partner (female) began to complain of some slight swelling in the perineum. 2 weeks after that she had a small cyst like sac inside her anus (we have never had anal sex) that eventually burst. It filled with infection again and this time drained from a small burst just outside her anus. She took antiobiotics provided by her Dr. and is much better now however every 2-3 days there will be some fluid drain from the burst.
She has been to the Dr. and they have not mentioned anything about it being an STI. How likely is that this is related to an STI? If so, what could it be. Again, I have been tested twice and I am not showing positive to anything they have tested for. I have no symptoms. Testing was just precautionary. (I know there are some more obscure STD's that aren't regularly tested such as chancroid and LGV. I know Chancroid is almost nonexistent in the USA however we live in Indonesia.) My partner has not been with anyone else but me.
The Dr's have called my partners illness a simple interspinteric fistula but I have no idea what causes that (and I'm not certain how much to trust the Dr's here)
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
78 months ago
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Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your question.
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The news is good: I agree exactly with your partner's doctors. It sounds like your partner had a very typical perianal abscess, of which interspinteric fistula is the main cause. Although it is theoretical possible such a problem could be initiated by some STDs, especially rectal gonorrhea, it's very uncommon; in my 40+ years in the STD business, I've never seen this.
Further, oral sex is low risk for STDs. Combining that inherent low risk with your lack of symptoms plus all the negative tests you had -- which frankly were somewhat excessive, based on your exposure -- there is no chance you have (or had) gonorrhea or any other STD that could have explained your partner's problem. That was just a coincidence.
So all is well; you needn't give this another thought -- except to accept my best wishes for your partner's speedy recovery.
I hope this information is helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.
HHH, MD
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78 months ago
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Thank you Dr. Handsfield. I appreciate the quick response. I understand the tests I went through were excessive (anxiety and a guilty conscience are fuel for the the testing industry)
As a follow up can I what the potential risk of contracting HPV from oral sex? I know very little about HPV and the clinic did not have a test for it unless you had a physical symptom for examination.
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
78 months ago
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Oral HPV infections are not rare, but a lot less frequent than vaginal or anal; and therefore the risk of transmission by oral sex is very low. There are no routinely available tests for HPV in men. But most infections never cause diseas; and everyone gets it anyway (often several times), and when it appears (e.g. if your wife were ever to have an abnormal pap smear due to HPV), it is never traceable to any particular sexual exposure. So it really isn't anything to worry about in this situation.
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77 months ago
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Thank you. That's all I need. You can go ahead and close this thread
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
77 months ago
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Thanks for the thanks. I'm glad to have helped.
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