Can I give someone syphilis from oral sex with no chancre present?

[scoobydude]

Hi - I was just diagnosed with primary syphilis. Titer 1:32.  I had my penicillin shots 4/7/19 from the local board of health. I have had the chancer for about 14 days now and it seem to be getting better.

My partner performed oral sex on me prior (2 days) of the chancre appearing/erupting. I know you can contract syphilis from direct contact from a sore. Would he be at risk if the oral sex was prior to the chancre appearing? There has been no sexual contact since. Thank you.

[auntiejessi]

Probably not, but if you've had sex with him in the past 3 months (and not just 2 days prior to your sore appearing), you should let him know because he could be your source.

Also, are you 100% certain that your sore appeared the day it did, or did you just notice it that day? I don't mean to sound insulting, but sometimes the sore appears on the underside of the penis, and people don't notice it right away. I don't know where your sore is (and don't even need to know), but if there is a possibility that your sore appeared earlier than you think, you should tell your partner so he can get treated.

And yes, no sex until the sore is gone.

[scoobydude]

Hi and Thank You.  The sore appeared on the side, just under the glans.  About two months prior, stupid me had unprotected anal sex with someone .  Sex between me and partner has always been oral or hand.  I know I did not have a sore the day we had oral sex as I am very aware of anything abnormal on my body. Two days after the oral sex the red spot appeared (I thought it was from rough oral) and progressively got worse as a few days passed.  In 4 days, the red spot turned into an open/raw sore. Then went to an urgent care and had blood work done.  In the mean time the Dr prescribed keflex until I went to the local health dept. for the penicillin injections. I'm still taking keflex until the Rx is gone.  The sore is 98% gone now and have not engaged in any kind of sex .. and probably never will again ...  A very hard and humiliating lesson learned.

Also the health dept said all I needed was the two injections of penicillin and the titer was 1:32 ... then called me two days later and said I should have two more rounds .. she said it's now standard with the CDC to have 3 treatments regardless of the stage of infection.    Thank you again.

[auntiejessi]

That's not true about the treatment - https://www.cdc.gov/std/tg2015/syphilis.htm I haven't found any updates to that.  It won't hurt you to get additional doses, though.

"have not engaged in any kind of sex .. and probably never will again ...  A very hard and humiliating lesson learned."

This is not the take-away I hope you retain. Sex is an awesome thing, and while I am glad you've learned about safer sex, it IS possible to have a fulfilling sex life and still not fear STDs.

Maybe for you, it will be a monogamous partner, or maybe it will be using condoms for everything, including oral sex. Also, having an STD shouldn't be any more humiliating than say, strep throat or the flu. If you'd gotten strep from that partner, and not syphilis, would you feel the same humiliation? Both are bacteria, both do their biological thing and reproduce and transmit. The only difference is the mode of transmission (though strep can be sexually transmitted to the urethra via oral sex).

So relax, take some time to process this, and make your choices then. Having syphilis doesn't change anything about you, your worth or your future.

[DragonPulse]

Even if there is no chancre, syphilis can be spread through sexual secretions, and oral sex is always a risk. So, ry not to have any sexual activities until the infection disappears.