[Question #8669] Risky Encounter - ? PEP

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41 months ago
I’m so embarrassed to describe this but would like accurate advice regarding my STI/HIV risk. I’m a married 45 yo female in a very rocky marriage and recently went on a girls weekend getaway. On my last day (Sunday) I was alone as my flight was cancelled. A married couple from the Midwest befriended me at the pool and we had great afternoon chatting and drinking. They are mid 30s, wife is a nurse (as am I) and they have 2 young kids at home. They invited me to their room to sit on the balcony and eventually things turned sexual. There was interaction between all 3 of us (oral and vaginal) and no protection used ……sadly. Possibly some brief anal insertion for myself as well.  The next day I asked them about their STI risk and they said they were clean and this was one time occurrence. Who knows though! 
I have been in a state of complete panic since since I exposed myself to not one but two people. Working in healthcare myself I know how stupid this was and would not have occurred without the alcohol. 

Hoping you can help me estimate my overall STI risk and whether or not PEP may be warranted here. Thanks in advance. 
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
41 months ago
Welcome to the forum. Thank you for your confidence in our services.

Please don't be embarrassed or otherwise concerned! You'll never be judged or see any signs of criticism about sexual choices on this forum, assuming there is no overt coercion or harm. 

This seems to be an essentially zero risk event in terms of STIs, including HIV. While people of course can be dishonest, most people in settings like yours are truthful when discussing their sexual/STI behaviors and risks. For sure PEP is not warranted in this situation, and would not be prescribed by the large majority of STI/HIV experts -- even for patients who specifically request it. I would put the odds you were infected with HIV as well under one in several million. As for other STIs, it seems conceivable that the risks to the other couple might be as high or higher from you to them as vice versa -- especially if your "very rocky marriage" implies your husband may have other sex partners (and that you and he have sex together at least occasionally).

So I don't even see a need for testing for HIV or any other STI. Of course you could do that if the anticipated negative results would help reassure you:  many people are more reassured by test results than by professional opinion based on probabilities and statistics, no matter how expert the source. If you decide to go that route, the best approach would be for all three of you to be tested -- for the reason just stated, perhaps they're as concerned about STI risks as you are. If you go that route -- either on your own or with everyone tested -- I suggest limiting testing to the common treatable STIs (gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis) plus HIV. You are at far too low risk to be at all concerned about other tests commonly included in "comprehensive STI panels" (or similar terminology) offered by many laboratories, especially in their online promotions (i.e. things like HSV, hepatitis B and C, etc).

If all three of you are tested, it can be done now and you'll be done with it. If it's only you, a urine or vaginal swab chlamydia/gonorrhea test would be valid any time more than 3-4 days after the event. (Given your anal and oral exposures, rectal and throat swabs could also be done. However, it is rare to have either gonorrhea or chlamydia only at those sites, i.e. almost always genital infection also is present -- so vaginal or urine testing is sufficient.) HIV and syphilis blood tests would need to be delayed until 6 weeks after the event. No matter what testing strategy you choose, stay relaxed until you have the results. The chance of any infection is extremely low, assuming you've had a truthful story from the other couple. If somehow I were in your situation, I would not be tested at all and would continue unprotected sex with my wife without worry of infecting her.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD
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41 months ago
Thanks so much Dr. Handsfield. I appreciate your kind and reassuring words and certainly respect your level of expertise in this field. That being said I did see my gyn yesterday and was tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea by vaginal swab (3 days after encounter) and they were negative which did make me feel better. I had no way to verify the info the other couple gave me was true nor do I have any way of knowing if they ultimately will get tested themselves. To put this encounter behind me I will plan to get HIV and syphillis testing at 6 weeks but just your advice itself did give me peace of mind. Thanks for this service and all you do here. 
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
41 months ago
That's a reasonable plan. Thanks for the thanks; I'm glad to have helped.---
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41 months ago
Sorry one last question Dr. Handsfield. I did have a sore throat this week so got a throat swab done today as well which produced a positive rapid GAS result. My provider also asked the lab to do a full throat culture anyway given my exposure this past weekend. Is it really true that it would be unusual to have a throat STI if my vaginal swabs were negative? I'm back to freaking out a little as I have not had strep throat in over 10 years but am hoping this is all that I'm dealing with. 
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
41 months ago
Indeed you have strep throat -- mild as strep throats go, but that test result is highly reliable. Also, something that many (probably most) physicians completely misunderstand is that pharyngeal gonorrhea rarely causes sore throat or any other symptoms:  over 90% of infections are entirely asymptomatic. And pharyngieal chlamydia has never been reported as a cause of sore throat (and throat infection is rare). And you have correctly understood my previous comment:  isolated pharyngeal gonorrhea is rare, with virtually the only exception being when performing fellatio is a person's only potential exposure. All these points amount to virtually 100% confidence you don't have pharyngeal gonorrhea. (If "full throat culture anyway" means gonorrhea/chlamydia testing, you definitely can expect a negative result.)

Just for fun, here is a link to the one of the first research studies done that tested large numbers of patients for gonorrhea at all sites (genital, anal, pharyngeal) -- and found no isolated pharyngeal infections except in one or two whose only exposure was performing fellatio. That observation wasn't the main point of the study and isn't mentioned in the abstract, but note the authors:  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6771877/


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