I am a guy and 3 weeks ago I engaged in some sexual activity with a guy that I hadn't met before. It mainly consisted of kissing, licking around his penis, scrotum, groin and anal region as well as a lot of rubbing up against him with my penis, simulated sex in between his legs and very brief oral sex but no penetration at all. At the end he ejaculated on my stomach. All the activities were unprotected. From what I can remember I only actually put his penis in my mouth for about 15 seconds and there didn't seem to be any pre-ejaculate on it at that time.
About 10 days ago I developed a mild sore throat that has improved slightly but has not resolved completely. I was wondering if you believe this could be from an STI. I would have a check at a GUM clinic but I had a full sexual screen 4 weeks ago and don't want to overreact, go back and wait for hours to be seen again.
From what I understand gonorrhea and chlamydia could potentially cause a sore throat but I'm not sure about syphilis. I hope I am right in thinking that I shouldn't be concerned about HIV as firstly the activities were low/no risk and secondly I do not have any other symptoms such a rash and flu.
Could you advise me if it possible to get the STI's I mentioned from just skin to mouth contact or would it be necessary for infected fluid to get into my mouth. If so the only time that could of happened was during the very brief oral sex but as I said I do not remember seeing any pre-ejaculate on his penis at that time.
I would of had a sexual health screen in just over 2 months time anyway. Please could you advise me if based on this exposure and my symptoms you think I could wait until then to be checked or if you think this is something I should check immediately. Also, if I were to wait and in fact I did have an STI, would my health have been detrimented leaving it for 2 months to treat.
Hello,
Thank you very much for your post and welcome to our forum.
You are right in saying that you did not put yourself at risk of HIV from this sexual encounter. Therefore there is no reason to worry about that.
However Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea are common and easy to transmit, even through a very brief blow job. Sore throat is a common symptom. There is a possible risk of syphilis, but this is less likely and would not cause a sore throat.
The test that you need is a simple PCR throat swab to detect Chlamydia or Gonorrhoea. Both are easy to treat with antibiotics. Delaying the treatment is not going to have seriosu detrimental effects on your health. However you would be infectious to other people and is not a good idea to go around with an infection in your throat. Therefore my advice is to be tested and treated as soon as possible.
Best wishes,
José
Thank you for your answer. Based on your advice I went to the GUM clinic today and had throat swabs to test for gonorrhea and chlamydia. The doctor said it was very unlikely I had these STI's as its not easy/common to get these in the throat. I am keen however to eliminate this as a possibility as my throat has now been sore for nearly 2 weeks.
I just wanted to clarify two points for future reference.
1) Is it possible to get gonorrhea or chlamydia from licking the skin around the penis/penis shaft (excluding the head) or do you actually need to get infected fluid such as pre-ejaculate in your mouth?
2) If HIV ARS presented, would it ever present as just a sore throat or would there always be in every case more symptoms than just that one. I hope I am correct in my understanding that the sore throat caused by ARS would be very very sore and definitely distinguishable from a mild but persistant sore throat.
I think both Jose and I would take issue with the idea that oral chlamydia or gonorrhoea is a rare event as we see a lot of it here confirmed on swabs. I think its more likley that taking swabs from the throat in the NHS is a rare event. If you don't look you don't find.
You've asked the following questions as well
1) Is it possible to get gonorrhea or chlamydia from licking the skin around the penis/penis shaft (excluding the head) or do you actually need to get infected fluid such as pre-ejaculate in your mouth?
No - you need definite mouth genital contact - ie a penis in your mouth or in the case of oral sex with females inserting a tongue into the vagina or anus
2) If HIV ARS presented, would it ever present as just a sore throat or would there always be in every case more symptoms than just that one. I hope I am correct in my understanding that the sore throat caused by ARS would be very very sore and definitely distinguishable from a mild but persistant sore throat.I think you can be certain that in your case you do not have ARS - simply because you didn't do anything that merited it - your activity was entirely innocent and will not have exposed you to HIV
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