gonorrhea transmission risk

[mjk950]

Recently I had a sexual encounter with another male ( I am male), I performed "oral' sex, but did not incert the penis into the mouth, but licked the outside of the shaft and scrotum.  My tongue came into contact with some pre-***, on the head of the penis. Partner was a stranger.  Assuming, the partner had gonorrhea, what is the chance of contacting gonohhrea through the pre-*** on my tongue and infecting my throat or mouth?  This is causing me alot of concern

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

I'm glad your tests were negative.  The clinic was being very conservative to have given preventive treatment against syphilis.  The shots were penicillin and definitely would have prevented or cured incubating syphilis, so that's is not a possibility for the sore in your mouth.  I also doubt it was herpes, despite your doctor's diagnosis.  Initial oral herpes typically causes multiple lesions plus sore throat and often fever; and recurrent herpes outbreaks almost always are on the outside of the lips.  Single sores inside the lips usually are aphthous stomatitis, i.e. canker sores.

So all is well.  You can go on with your life with no worries of any kind from this event.  Stay safe!

[mjk950]

I recieved test results from the clinic all negative,   It should be noted that when I went to the health clinic I recieved two shots of an antibiotic in my rump one in each cheek as a precuation for syphilis (two days after encounter), but one week after the encounter I described in my earlier post I developed a sore on the inside of my lip. I had it examined and the Dr said it was a cold sore, and prescribed Valtrix,  but the lab results came back negative for Herpes.  The sore is almost cleared up after five days.  What are the chances that tthis sore could be syhpilic

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

If this is your only exposure, it will be a surprise if the result is positive.  In any case, pharyngeal gonorrhea rarely causes symptoms, is not easily transmitted to partners, and generally goes away on its own in a few weeks.  It's not something to lose sleep over.

[mjk950]

I went to the county health dept and awaiting results of test, including throat swap, which may be 1 to 2 weeks, the anxiety is really getting to me and just wanted to know the odds of the test showing an infection.  Thank youfor your reply.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Certainly performing oral sex on another man, especially in a high risk context like you describe (unknown partner, etc), carries risk for gonorrhea of the pharynx (throat).  Logically, the risk might be higher with prolonged exposure or ejaculation in the mouth, and lower for brief exposures without ejaculation -- but there are no data and I cannot even guess at a numerical risk level.  Most likely the risk is on the low side, but that's all I can say.  To be safe, visit your health care provider or your local health department STD clinic and be tested.

And a word to the wise:  Please go to the HIV Prevention forum and use the search link to find discussions of "do ask, do tell".  I'm less concerned about your risk of having gonorrhea than the possibility you are involved in a lifestyle that carries high risk for something serious (which pharyngeal gonorrhea definitely is not) like HIV.

Regards--  HHH, MD