[Question #1985] Oral Sex & STDs

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89 months ago
I gave unprotected oral sex to the same guy 4 different times, he didn't ejaculate in my mouth. But, I am concerned about pre-cum entering my mouth and carrying STDs.  Is it possible to be infected with Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Syphilis and the other STDs by pre-cum only.  I currently have no symptoms in my mouth but I am just very concerned and want to know my risks.  
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
89 months ago
Welcome to our Forum. I'll be glad to comment.  Unless there is another specific reason for concern, the fact is that most people do not have STIs and thus it is unlikely that you were exposed to infection.  Even if your partner was infected, most exposures to infected partners often do not lead to infection.  When they do however, most such infections are asymptomatic and for that reason, it is reasonable to test.  Of all STIs the STIs that are most often acquired through oral sex on a partner is gonorrhea.  Chlamydia is rarely transmitted through performance of oral sex and the risk of HIV if he was infected (which is unlikely) is less than 1 infection occurs per 10,000 exposures.  For these reasons, the only testing I would recommend for you is to have a throat swab taken for gonorrhea testing.  Since most tests for gonorrhea also test for chlamydia at the same time, you will get a chlamydia result as well but I am confident your test will be negative.  I see no realistic medical reason for testing for HIV or for syphilis unless you want the reassurance that negative tests will provide. If you do want this information however, unlike the gonorrhea results which will be accurate at any time more than 2-3 days after your last exposure, the results of HIV or syphilis test would not be definitive until about 4 weeks after you exposure.

I hope my comments are helpful to you.  Overall your risk for any STI from these exposures is low.  EWH 
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