I am a male who received unprotected oral sex for 30 seconds a couple of days ago from an escort in south east Asia. She appeared healthy with no obvious sores or legions.
I know that the risks of HIV are small to nothing, but is there any reliable data on the chances of having contracted anything else? I know that gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia are all risks. Are the chances significant though? I am besides myself with worry about this deeply regrettable event and have no way of quantifying the risks of what I've done.
I am returning to the uk from my trip next week, at that stage is it possible to test for everything relevant? I've seen some different advice on this particularly relating to the syphilis test. Should I abstain from sexual contact with my girlfriend? Am very concerned about the suspicions this might arouse.
Hello,
Thank you very much for your post.
From the point of view of any blood borne viral infection like HIV or hepatitis B, no risk at all whatsoever. However the risk of having contracted especially Chlamydia or Gonorrhoea is very high, if the lady had these infections in her throat, which is very common. They are highly infectious and infection would happen in most cases. Syphilis is less likely but also possible.
My advice to you would be to test for Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea after one week of the incident and get treated accordingly. Sometimes we also treat with a single dose of two antibiotics in order to cover these infections even beofre having any test results. This gives peace of mind to patients. For syphilis, you would need a blood test, but you would have to wait at least 4 weeks. In any case I would consider this to be unlikely and in the case of you developing any symptoms (i.e. a painless sore on the penis), you should seek medical advice. In the interim, I would recommend you to abstain from having sex with your girlfriend until all of this is clear.
Best wishes,
José
Many thanks for your support, it is very much appreciated as I am beside myself with worry.
I will arrange for the tests you outlined at the one week mark. Sorry I was not clear regarding the issue of syphilis which you say is unlikely, should I abstain from sexual contact until the one month mark and that blood test or would it be ok if the one week tests come through ok? Am I right that even if I were to have contracted syphilis, that this would not be realistically transmissable before the appearance of a chancre?
Bearing in mind that is unlikely and the fact that you would start being infections after developing a syphilitic chancre, provided that all the other tests are negative, I would think it is ok for you to resume sexual intercourse with your girlfriend. Obviously this would not be the case if you were to develop any symptoms.
Best wishes,
José
Risk from Receving unprotected oral sex
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