[Question #3559] Additional testing!

89 months ago

Little over a month ago on 3/1 I made a huge mistake and had protected vaginal intercourse with a stripper and she gave me brief oral which was also protected. On 3/5 I was tested for ghonorea chlamidea and tric. All were negative. My question is should I get additional testing I ask because I recently have just gotten over a head cold and have seen some infections give flu like symptoms.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

89 months ago

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your question.

This was a very safe sexual exposure. Condoms work, and oral sex is low risk, even without condoms. Since you wore a condom for both the vaginal and oral exposures, there was no significant risk for any STD. You really didn't need testing. However, the gonorrhea and chlamydia tests were valid and show you didn't catch either one. We don't know how long it takes for a trichomonas test to become positive, and that test may have been done a bit too early. But the chance of trich from this one exposure was zero anyway, so no worries about it.

The advice that "some infections give flu like symptoms" refers only to HIV. And "flu like" does not mean head cold symptoms. In this advice, "flu like" means fever, headache, and muscle aches. Acute HIV infection doesn't cause stuffy nose, cough, sneezing, etc. And this was a zero risk exposure for HIV.

So all is well and there is no need for further testing. If you have a regular partner, you can safely continue your normal sexual relations.

I hope this information is helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

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89 months ago

So it’s safe to have unprotected sex with my wife? Is there any potential risk for syphilis or anything that i was not tested for? Would I have had symptoms by now?

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

89 months ago

Party answered above: "If you have a regular partner, you can safely continue your normal sexual relations."

Nobody can guarantee you weren't infected with something. There are such things as undetected condom failures and asymptomatic infections. For sure you don't have gonorrhea or chlamydia, and probably not trichomonas. The chance of syphilis or HIV is almost zero, but if you want 100% assurance about them, you'll need to have blood tests. They are conclusive any time more than 6 weeks after exposure. But if somehow I were in your situation, I would not be tested for them and would continue sex with my wife without worry.

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88 months ago

Any risk for herpes?

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

88 months ago

The risk for all STDs is the same as I have described above: Extremely low, but of course never zero. That applies to herpes just as the others. However, it is extremely unlikely you caught herpes, especially since you've had no symptoms to suggest it.

That completes two follow-up comments and replies and so concludes this thread. I hope the discussion has been helfpul.

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88 months ago

I just received my test results and I was negative for everything but hsv-1

88 months ago

What do I do now my number was 23.50

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

88 months ago

Like half of all adults in the US (up to 90% in some countries), you have HSV1. The number doesn't matter. Positive is positive if above the testing threshold; and one number is no more positive than another. It's no big deal and almost certainly unrelated to your recent sexual exposure. Most likely it's from a childhood oral infection. If you've ever had cold sores, fever blisters, etc, that would make it certain. (You might check with your mom about early childhood if you don't remember.) But even without such a history, most positive results for HSV1 are from oral infection. Even if genital, it's probably an old infection; one month is earlier than usual after a new infection. Also, you don't mention oral exposure, which is the only way people acquire genital HSV1.

This sort of uncertainty is one of the main reasons that HSV1 blood tests generally are not recommended after sexual exposures, unless there are symptoms that suggest genital herpes.

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88 months ago

Oral exposure? Should I retest? I’ve always had occasional sensitivity on my upper lip. My wife was recently tested and she was negative for everything. If this is not from the recent exposure would she have had it?

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

88 months ago

You are seriously overreacting to an unimportant issue. This is nothing to be at all worried about.

Why was your wife "tested for everything"? What does that mean? STD testing? Blood counts or blood testing? Pap smear? Are you sure she was tested for HSV1? Even that wouldn't mean anything: the HSV1 blood test misses 30% of infected people. And just because you have it definitely does not mean she must have it too. If your wife's lip "sensitivty" is accompanied by a visible sore, she could see her doctor next time it happens to confirm whether it might be HSV1.

But really, this is all so unimportant to your health and life, or your wife's. Just let it go.

We have gone way over the normal limits for follow-up questions, so that ends this discussion. I hope the discussion has been helfpul.

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