[Question #5142] Pharyngeal gonorrhea for >8 months?

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77 months ago
Hello dear experts!

About a year ago I engaged in brief cunnilingus with a stripper. The incident didn't last more than 30 seconds. 

I didn't test though I did take Azithromycin 2G and 400MG of Cefixime the next day. 
In about 4 months I got married.

After about 8 months (mid December) my wife had an ovarian cyst.  At this point I began to worry that I may have caught gonorrhea from the stripper incident, antibiotics I took failed to cure gonorrhea  and I infected to my wife after more than 8 months.
The doctor also made some tests on her. The swab test was negative for gonorrhea.

I had sperm analysis done on my on 15th of January everything was fine I only had Asthenospermia. 
A friend of mine suggested a clinic so I went there for treatment. On 28th of January I had another sperm Analysis, which still showed Asthenospermia but also elevated WBC count in sperm (3.4mil). Doctor sent me to test for everything (Chlamydia, asa, chlamydia, hiv, mycoplasma, ureoplasma, syphilis, hcv, hbv, hsv etc). He didn't test me for gonorrhea though he asked few questions (if I had pus or burning sensations) and inspected my penis. As a matter of fact the same day I received my sperm analysis result I had a mild burning sensation and more frequent urination (no pus). The symptoms lasted only for one day.  I received test results all negative. Doctor then told me this is probably some gastroenterological parasite. I went to test my stool. again all negative. He said to come back in 2 weeks. I went ahead for another sperm analysis. The WBC count was dropped (no treatment) to 1.7 still elevated but decreased.

1 - Can it be treatment failed and I had throat gonorrhea for more than 8 months?
2 - Can it be I infected my wife and then I was infected on Genitalia?
3 - Would WBC count drop if it was Gono?
4 - What does it sound to you?
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
77 months ago
Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your question and your confidence in our services.

I certainly understand your concerns; your wife's illness several months after a sexual exposure and decision that you apparently regret undoubtely is alarming. However, you can relax. There is no chance of the scenario you outline, i.e. that you acquired oral gonorrhea a year ago, transmitted it to your wife, that it has anything to do with her ovarian cyst, etc. 

First, the chance of oral infection from cunnilingus is almost zero. Extremely few cases have ever been proved. Second, in the slim chance you were infected, cefixime plus 2 g azithromycin is highly reliable treatment; there has never been a reported failure of this regimen to cure gonorrhea. Third, even if somehow you still had an oral infection, transmission to the genital area by cunnilingus is just as rare (maybe even rarer) than in the other direction.  Finally, there is no realistic chance your wife's swab test would miss gonorrhea. These facts alone make your scenario impossible.

Further, your own STD tests all are highly reliable. So even though it can be hard to differentiate an infected ovarian cyst from pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), often due to STDs, all things add up to zero chance your wife's problem is due to gonorrhea or any other STD she acquired from you. Finally, neither gonorrhea nor any other STDs cause low sperm count or changes in WBC count. To your specific questions:

1) No. On top of all the reasons above, ghroat gonorrhea clears up on its own within several weeks.

2) No chance, and you have had no symptoms to suggest this.

3) Your WBC counts are unrelated to gonorrhea or to your extramaritcal sexual exposrue a year ago.

4) You definitely do not have any STD, and your wife's problem is unrelated to that sexual experience. 

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

HHH, MD
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77 months ago
Such a great reply. Thanks doctor you are really great person.

I'll be brief in the following.

I do believe that ovarian cyst wasn't due my exposure since she had 2 or three negative gonorrhea swab tests done. And cyst was confirmed by ultrasound.

I just was worried that high WBC levels in sperm were caused by gono. Which I imagined was in pharyngeal area for more than 10 months (since first sperm analysis didn't show elevated WBC). It's just all the news articles saying that pharyngeal gono may be untreatable and stuff made me even more anxious. I've read that one Japanese woman had gono resistant to all antibiotics but it resolved on its own in several months.

Just one more short question.

What could be the reason for elevated WBC in sperm other than sti?


P.S you know you are like celebrity for us, anxious people right? :)
I send you lots of good karma
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
77 months ago
Gonorrhea doesn't cause ovarian cysts. Even if she really had PID that was misdiagnosed, I gave you several reasons why gonorrhea is not the cause, including the ones you have repeated back.

Gonorrhea could cause WBC in semen, but only rarely. And in any case, your gonorrhea tests are conclusive.  I'm not an expert in semen analysis, but most cases are not STD related. And you can't get an STD in your genital tract or semen through oral exposure. Gonorrhea and other STDs do not travel through the body and do not show up at unexposed sites.

There has never been a case of pharyngeal gonorrhea that could not be successfully treated, and only 3-4 cases in the entire world that required unusually intensive antibiotic treatment. You don't have it. Period.

Thanks for the kind words. I hope they are helping!
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77 months ago
I think I might have confused you. I agree with you with everything. I never even thought it was PID haha. I said I DO believe that it was just an ovarian cyst. 

Cheers :)

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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
77 months ago
You didn't confuse me; I knew that. But distinguishing PID from an ovarian cyst can be difficult. My point was that even if the diagnosis had not been correct and she really had PID, I would still believe and advise that it had nothing to do with the outside sexual exposure you described.

That compltes two follow-up comments and replies and so ends this thread. I hope the discussion has been helpful.
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