[Question #721] wife has sore throat, oral ghonorrea?

100 months ago

about 6-7 weeks ago, i had a very brief encounter on a trip with a CSW and received brief unprotected oral. before that episode, it had been months since anything similar. i have never once had unprotected vaginal or anal sex with anyone besides my wife.

2 weeks ago, she got a 24 hr flu of sorts, was sidelined for a day, but felt better after that but a sore throat has persisted.

i have had zero symptoms of any kind of STI; genitals appear normal and no burning, pus or anything visible of any kind.

could i have contracted ghonorrea, asymptomatically, and passed it to her via oral sex, and that is the cause of her sore throat?

concerned,
ra

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

100 months ago

Greetings. Welcome the the forum and thanks for your question.

Oral sex is safe sex. It isn't completely free of STD risk, but the chance of infection is low for all STDs and zero for some -- far lower than for vaginal or anal sex. The chance of any infection from a single exposure is very low. Second, sore throat and flu-like symptoms of course are very common in anyone -- and no STDs would cause such symptoms anyway. Oral gonorrhea usually causes no symptoms at all, and certainly would not cause the flu-like symptoms other than sore throat. Almost certainly your wife caught a standard respiratory virus. Her illness has nothing to do with your sexual exposure 2 weeks earlier.

From a strictly medical or risk standpoint, you don't need to worry, don't need testing, and can continue your usual sexual practices with your wife. However, if you remain concerned, you could visit a doctor or clinic and have a urine test for gonorrhea and chlamydia for additional reassurance. If I were in your situation, I would not do it -- but if you do, you definitely can expect negative results.

I hope this has been helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear. Best wishes-- HHH, MD

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99 months ago

let me pose this final question -- from receiving oral from an unknown partner with unknown hiv status, is it possible to get hiv from that incident? from me receiving oral can i have been infected if she (the CSW) had hiv?

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

99 months ago

Hello again. Your question arrived while I was logged in. Most users should not expect nearly real-time replies!

There has never been a proved case of HIV transmission mouth to penis. And most CSWs do not have HIV anyway (average 1% or lower in the US). This isn't anything to worry about.

Having said that, you may want to consider HIV testing anyway. CDC and other experts recommend that all Americans have an HIV test once, regardless of risk; and if you are typical of most people with such worries, the negative results may be more reassuring than my analysis based on risks and probabilities. This doesn't mean I think there is any chance you caught HIV. I do not.

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99 months ago

Thank you.

So through your expert lens, based on this encounter, testing is not warranted and can one assume that receiving oral is safe regarding hiv?

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

99 months ago

You correctly understand my replies above.

That completes the two follow-up comments and replies included with each question, so ends this thread. You can move on with no worries about this event. Take care and stay safe.

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