Hello, I am 30 years old, gay and I've been with my BF for 4 months now. He’s HIV+ (undetectable for 3 years), I'm on PreP and we have unprotected sex. Early in June, I realized I had 2-3 bumps on my chest and one on my butt. I popped them out. I never had re-occurrence on the chest, but in end of June, I started to feel a mild burning sensation in my buttock line and surrounding. Two weeks ago, 2 different doctors diagnosed 5-6 molluscum, exactly where the burning was occurring. I read that even if unlikely, sometimes, these bumps can cause some discomfort, so I assume this is somehow my case.

I am unsure where I caught those molluscum : I looked at my BF’s skin, but he has a lot of freckles and imperfection, which makes bumps hard to find. Anyway, my doc burnt (cryotherapy) my 5-6 molluscum and I am sticking watertight plasters on the dead bumps to prevent [auto]-inoculation and exposure to others. I also avoid shaving, towels/clothes sharing, etc.

My questions :

1- At that point, can I keep having un/protected sex with my BF ? We had sex for more than a month before I've been diagnosed with molluscum. However, I am afraid he'd catch it up the hard way, because he's HIV+ and I read molluscum can be challenging for immuno-suppressed person (note : he's undetectable and seems to have a good immune system).

2- If my BF has/catches molluscum, is there any risk of ping-pong effect, or is my body likely to develop a immunity over the next few months/years? I can’t imagine us not having sex for months…

3- I experience what seems to be unusual burning sensation on my skin and some inflammation. Once burnt (frozen), the bumps aren’t painful/burning anymore. I read inflammation could be a sign that my immune system is fighting the virus, which could be a sign of ending. Is this right?

Thanks !

Thanks for the answer Doctor Hook, I am relieved molluscum isn't a big deal.

Now, I don't want to interfere with this thread, but as you know, I am/was also dealing with a NGU for 7 weeks now and your colleague, Dr. HHH, has been helpful in his answers.

However, I am still worried I could have mycoplasma genitalium. I passed 3 different tests, but I read a lot about false negative, since this bacteria seems tricky to identify. Also, the tests I passed were done following antibiotic treatments, so I am wondering if this could not false the results. Here are the delays :

1- Urethral swab (not much discharge during intervention, late PM) : 5 days after taking Azithromycin 1g single dose;

2- Urethral swab (not much discharge during intervention, late PM) : 12 days after taking 10 days course of doxycycline (= 22 days after doxy starting);

3- Urine (FVU) : 14 days after 10 days course of doxycycline ending (= 24 days after doxy starting)

I am not that confident that swabs were correctly "done", as the private clinic I went to weren't used to make this test and, also, there was no obvious discharge at the moment of both swabs, in late PM. The doctor simply "scratched" and turned 1cm into my urethrae with the swab, so I assume he grabbed some cells, but I am not sure about micro discharge and test relevancy in this context. However, for the 3 tests, I was symptomatic and was experiencing obvious clear/white discharges in the morning (and white stains in my underwear).

My questions :

1- Is a swab without obvious discharge (late PM) still relevant ?

2- Could the antibiotic course I went through lead to false negative ? I was on doxy (2x 100mg/day for 10 days) from July, 22th to 31st and I passed the urine test on August 15th. Is 2 weeks a decent window to prevent false negative ?

I know I might sound paranoid, but I went through so much anxiety with this situation and I am afraid this would come back again. Thanks a lot !