[Question #6312] Gonorrhea-Chlam in throat
15 months ago
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
15 months ago
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Welcome to the Forum. Thanks for your question. several comments:
1. Your use of condoms protected you from genital infections. the issue of STI transmission through kissing is current the subject of great controversy within the field. A group of Australian investigators have suggested that among men who have sex with other men, deep ("French") kissing may lead to transmission of gonorrhea (and perhaps other STIs). Others (including Dr. Handsfield and I) argue that while this may occasionally occur, it is rare and a biologically inefficient event.
2. Symptoms. When gonorrhea and chlamydia occur in the oral cavity they are nearly always asymptomatic although on very rare occasions they can cause symptomatic pharyngitis with swollen lymph nodes.
3. The treatment you received- the shot you got was most probably ceftriaxone, the recommended therapy for gonorrhea and the azithromycin pills are the recommended therapy for chlamydia- would have almost certainly have cured a throat infection if you did happen to get infected (which as I said above, is unlikely),
4, Standard recommendations are to abstain for at least 3-4 days after therapy before resuming unprotected sex. The basis of these recommendations is unclear and in my opinion, 24 hours after you took your medications you would probably not be infectious for sex partners in the unlikely circumstance that you were infected.
My synthesis. It was good that your partner notified you (all to many people would not do this) and that you were treated as prevention. At this time I see no need for continued concern or for further testing. I hope that his information is helpful to you. EWH