genital bacterial infection

[jim_startec]

Dear All,

I have tested positive for ESCHERICHIA COLI  AND ENTEROCOCCUS FAECALIS on my penis.

Please help me to tell if these are sexually transmitted. Or if now I will have oral sex, kissing, hugging, touching with my girlfriend. Will it be pass on to her.

And what are the risk consequence for these bacteria for my health if I don't go for antibiotics. As doc suggest that you should wait because earlier I was treated for other bacteria as well for 10 days on antibiotics. Please tell me, as from last few days I am started feeling tired, dizziness during day time.

[mkh9]

Glad your tests all came back negative. Oral ulcers are often benign or common and not anything serious. They can be due to a virus or a crown or a tooth hitting the gum or mouth etc. But if you have had them for a long time I would ask your dentist to check them out. Have you been tested for Epstein Barr Virus? Most people have it as adults but it is possible you have a active chronic form like chronic fatigue syndrome. It sounds like for the most part you are doing better. No urinary tract infections or other infections so that is great. So, maybe it is just too much irritation on the meatus/foreskin. I think you sound pretty healthy now except for the fatigue. How is your blood pressure and diet? Did you also check for diabetes? It has been a while and I don't recall if I asked you that. Are  you sleeping enough and well? Too much caffiene?
mkh9

[jim_startec]

Also, I tested for all

Hiv, herpes 1/2, Hepatitis all, crc protein, PSA, syphilis, chlamydia, Gonorrhea .

All negative this time again.

Recent symptoms are same till now. Little read meatus, foreskin red after ejaculation , fatigued mind,  also ulcers on my tooth gums (3,4).

Urine culture also dune twice. Negative too now.

[jim_startec]

Dear ,

I got exposure in Dec 2013 middle.

I last tested on july 10th. 2014.

Kindly advise.

Thank

[mkh9]

p.s. when was the last test at 6 months or 7 months?
mkh9

[mkh9]

Yes you should be clear of anything you tested for.  Repeat testing won't change the result generally speaking. In your case you sound like you are clear of anything you tested for. What all did you test for? Did you check for Chlamydia , gonorrhea and HIV and herpes type II? Those are the ones to worry about and by now you would have had a positive result if you were exposed.
mkh9

[jim_startec]

Hi dear,
Do you have idea that repeated testing for Std"s can give false result ?

Like I tested on monthly basis for Std since my exposure.Now its 7 months over and I tested in 2 months gap now and again all negative. Can it assure that I am free from any std.

Please help

Thanks

[mkh9]

Its hard to say what is causing your fatigue. Some medications can do this, also a bacterial infection (fighting something off) can do this).  You could be low in B12 depending on your diet or vitamin D. Also have you had your thyroid level checked? And anemia can do this. The cause can be found out depending on what kind of anemia you have and if you have it. Do you ever see any blood in the feces or toilet or when you pee? You don't have to have anemia and bleed it can be diet related, or parasite relelated or malabsorption of food etc. For this you can get your Iron, percent saturation  ferritin, and B12, checked. Also, your hemoglobin and a complete blood count. It would help to see the overall picture and a chemistry or metabolic panel. Other than that is is hard to tell.
mkh9

[jim_startec]

Dear,
Hope you doing good now. I don't have fever ever and sometimes I do have sore throat too. But it goes in 1 week or so always. I just do hot gargles with salt when it happens.
Also, as I told already had urine culture latest and turned positive for E.coli > 100.000 cfu/ml.

Also, had full general check up of body from my company side and everything is normal (sugar, lipids, calcium test, urine analysis, ultra sound abdomen, throid ultra sound, uric acid, creatine, hep b,c , blood pressure, ecg)
Any idea that any std can cause this extreme fatigue my mind. :-[

Thanks

[mkh9]

Hi,
I just got your message. I was on vacation then got injured and not feeling well. One thing is do you have a fever? That could cause the fatigue and lack of concentration. This may be due to an infection. Have you had your urine tested lately for a urinary tract infection? Are you still following the doctors advice in using only water to wash the meatus area so you won't get irritation? I would get a urine culture first and see if that is what is causing your problem.  Its not likely that an infection due to oral sex would cause the symptoms you have it would be more sore throat etc.
mkh9

[jim_startec]

Hi dear
Thanks for your reply so much. My other symptoms at the moment are extreme fatigue in mind during morning and mild pain in glans penis and irritated meatus a lot after ejaculation. when I lie on bed it's ok. Fatigue is from neck till head. I feel like unconcentrated during my worktime. I had exposure for unprotected oral sex only in dec2013.is it possible that still there can be hidden std in my body which is causing fatigue. All stds negative in 5th month. Last time urine culture turned positive for E.coli > 100.000 cfu/ml.
Please advise asap.Thanks

[mkh9]

Everything sounds like great advice the doctors are giving. I don't think that you have an STD based on your symptoms and perhaps the dizziness is due to something else. Inner ear problem or  how is your blood pressure and blood sugar?
mkh9

[jim_startec]

Hi Dear,

Many thanks

I again showed up urologist doctor yesterday
1. I told him About recent bacterial diagnosis e.coli & e.face on my penis. He did physical examination. Said it seems normal by looking. And said as due to less symptoms. We can't rule out exact diagnose, so no need to worry and told not to eat any antibiotics now. And gave probiotic tablet 1 week, oncce a day+ crampac tab (cranberry extract) 1 month twice a day + immunz tab (tinospora cordifolia extract) 1 month too , twice a dayso to null the effect of antibiotics on my body. And told to come back after 1 week.

2' as you asked for parasite.there was no parasite diagnosis on my anal area, (anal swab negative) earlier/old doc just rule out on basis of symptoms (itch that time) + due to redness of meatus of penis + skin irriated on penis. He gave parasitic medicine.

3' now I will wash penis everyday gently only with water as urologist advise same. Not to use any soap now.only simple water, by pulling foreskinonly.
4'regarding diziness & mental tiredness, he thinks might be due to due to many antibiotics I ate in past that'd why he suggested to start probiotics + other med now so to have good immune.
5'but today really I feel diziness n mental tired.really dont know why.do you think after 4 months now approx .still I do have any std possibly. ? As last tested on 8 th april 14 ( 6th dec 2013 , unprotected exposure oral only)' is there any std  or test I shud go for that I might have got from unprotected sexual exposure + protected sex. I got tested for syphilis,herpes, hiv, hept a,b,c, cbc. , chlamydia, gonnorhea already. All negative last time.

Please advise dear

[mkh9]

1. Ok, I will try to answer your questions. First of all you have to understand that your body in general has normal bacteria in several areas and it is important for the body to have these bacteria. They serve as protectors to other pathogenic or harmful bacteria. For example your mouth, throat, skin (all over your body) , penis, intestines, anus, sputum, feet, toe and fingernails, etc. all have normal bacteria in them. Even your eyes have a few bacteria. But your blood, organs, brain, and other sites that are supposed to be sterile don't have bacteria. So, it is normal that the outside of your penis can have bacteria. The inside of a womens vagina has a lot of normal bacteria. It has a lot of anaerobic bacteria (lactobacillus, is a predominant organism) but there are also organisms that can come from the surrounding areas such as the anus and other skin areas and this is normal. So to find E. coli or E. facalis or Staphlylocccus wouldn't be abnormal except when there is an infection. This is where I come in in the laboratory and the doctor takes a swab from the woman that says she is having a discharge or pain and sends a swab to us in the laboratory. We put it on special agar culture plates in the incubator grow it up and see if it has the right proportions of bacteria on the plates. If it has too many of Staph or all Staph and no normal bacteria this would be an infection unless she has been on antibiotics. There are a lot of things that are involved here. But so when you have sex with a women the normal bacteria can get on you penis and this normal and won't cause and infection unless it is harmful bacteria. These bacteria on your skin won't be harmful. So that should answer your question in general.  With some extra information.
2.  No see #1. The probiotic I use is TruNature. I don't know what they have in India. But any probiotic that has live bacteria and has 10 billion  of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacteria and a mixture of other normal bacteria. Should be good. Even if it just has several species of these two Types it should be ok.
3. Ok
4. See #2
5.So, all looks good but last week you had a positive urine culture and don't worry about the penis rub. But since the urine culture was clear this week it should be ok. You may want to check the urine culure again in a week or two if you have symptoms.
6. I think all these symptoms will clear up. Make sure you are drinking enough fluids (8 glasses of water and/or tea or a mixture of fluids a day). Eating a balanced diet .Your potassium may have been off or the many antibiotics you had may have caused the dizziness.
7. Which parasite did you have and is it clear now?
8. Ok. good with the dove soap. don't scrub. Be very gentle. I wouldn't use a wash rag just gentle hand wash and rinse well.
hope this helps.
mkh9

[jim_startec]

HI MKH9,

Many thanks again.But still I have some unanswered questions as below.
1. How these bacteria become reactive on my penis. ? Is it due to My sexual encounter ? But as I don't touched or hand anus ever of the girl. Never had anal intercourse too. Also I am uncircumcised.
2. Do you think, antibiotics responsible for making these bacteria live on my penis. As there was no diagnose for any STD, as all were negative till now.
3. As you told above that check for chlamydia, I recently tested for All Std already. All are negative. I.e. Herpes,hiv, chlamydia,gonnorhea, hepatitis a,b,c. CBC count., syphilis approximately after 4 months , all are negative and good.
4. Can you suggest any suitable probiotic supplement as per my situation easily available in Indian market
5. Recently last week only  2 times, I tested urine, swab urethra, swab genital, anal swab. First time, urine culture - streptococcus group D 10/4 cfu/ml , in urethra swab - E.coli  +++ . Second times after 4 days . In urine culture =negative , anal swab = negative , urethra swab = negative , gential penis rub swab = e.coli , e.facelis only.
6. Right now only symptoms are sensation on penis, little redness on meautus, tingling on shaft, crawling etc. In past only these were the symptoms.that's it.no more symptoms. And little dizziness, sleeping feeling during day time only.at night its ok. And little irritation near corner of eyes.But ophthalmologist said eyes are ok, but still have irritated skin around corner of eyes only. Left eye more.
7. parasitic medicines i.e. ivermectin (2 doses in 14 days, 2tabs/dose)  + zentel –albendazole (14days, two times every day , two tabs/dose) + poviodine solution (two times)
Completed all course of medicines already.
8. I never had anal sex in life. Also , I wash penis with hot water and dove soap only since last few days.

Please advise dear

[mkh9]

Hi,
I'm not a doctor and others on here are not as well. However, I am a microbiologist and can advise you. As for your eye I would think if you got Chlamydia in your eye that you would have conjunctivitis or worse symptoms by now. It would be red, swollen, painful etc. So, you could get a second opinion to be sure if it is oozing and they could do PCR on the stuff that comes out of the corner of the eye. But it sounds like the eye doctor said it was ok. It sounds like overall you have had way too many antibiotics. I would take probiotics at this point for a couple of months to try to get your normal bowel flora back in order. You can purchase these online for example at Drugstore.com. Get one that has 10 billion copies. And has lactobacillus, bifidobacteria and a variety of healthy bacteria. you need to repopulate your intestines. You can also eat Yogurt that has live bacteria in it. But you would have to eat two a day and that is a lot especially if you are lactose intolerant. So I agree not to take any more antibiotics at this time. These two bacteria (E.coli and e. fecalis) if only on the surface should go away on their own with good hygiene. Don't do anal sex if you are or use protection if you are. That would be one way to get it.  These organisms shouldn't cause a problem for your girlfriend. Use protected oral sex. Kissing etc. is no problem. Some of these chemicals they used may have caused some irritation so take it easy and hopefully the irritation will go away. Which parasite did you have? Have you finished the course of antibiotics and antiparasitics that the first doctor prescribed?  Did you get retested yet for Chlamydia after all this? I would wait a couple of weeks.  Sorry to ask this but do you use soap and warm water to wash your penis?  I don't know what you are doing to get all these fecal types of organisms unless you are doing anal sex. So, wash up after very well or use protection for that type of sex if you are. Again, all this type of infection is superficial and outside the penis?  Just trying to clarify to be able to help.
regards,
mkh9

[jim_startec]

Dear
Many thanks for your valuable feedback.
I would like to share with you more details. It started all back in Dec’2013. When I had unprotected oral encounter only with some girl. Also had protected intercourse with same after few days in middle of dec’2013. I will be precise in details as below-
Symptoms:
Dec last week: shooting mild pain in shaft, sensation, redness of meatus only, foreskin inflammation. No wound or cut. Redness meatus, foreskin irritation, foreskin little inflammation and rare mild pain still exists.
Feb middle: irritation along with the eyes (left eye more), mild pain near eyebrows (left more). Only On the corner of eye. Showed ophthalmologist, he said eyes are totally ok. But still, when I see in the mirror its nothing, but I just feel that there is something wrong going inside the skin eyes near corner and eyebrows because physically I feel it’s something irritated. Using artificial tears only now. Itch in anus too sometimes.
Apr 3rd week : Felling tired, dizziness, weakness sometimes, feel like sleeping in mind. But, not physically tired
Test result:
End of Dec’2013 : All STD’S negative, except chlamydia – greyzone only.
Jan 2nd week: All STD’s negative, except candida albicans only on penis.
March 2nd week: All STD’S negative, except Bacteria found on penis culture. i.e. Cogulase-negative staphylococcus, klebsiella pneumonaie, Enterococcus faecalis.
April 2nd week: Again bacteria found on penis culture. This time it was: Escherichia coli, Enterococcus Faecalis.
Medications
Fortunately, when I had encounter I was on azithromycin for my sinus problem since last 5-6 days (1gm a day). I don’t know whether it protected me form transmitting any disease from that girl or not. Below prescriptions I followed from doctor, as meatus not turning pink and pain, irritation still exists, sometimes itching in anus too.
Dec’2013.: from 31st Dec- to Jan 6th – majorly on Augmentin (2g per day)
Jan 7th : had single dose – azithromycin + IV Ceftriaxone.
Jan 2nd week : 14 days course for candida -  itraconazole ( two tabs/dose, twice a day) + cream azole for penis.
Jan last week: doctor gave cream mycoster (2 months) + doxycycline (14days, twice a day) + parasitic medicines i.e. ivermectin (2 doses in 14 days, 2tabs/dose)  + zentel –albendazole (14days, two times every day , two tabs/dose) + poviodine solution (two times)
March 20th to March 31st : 10 days course: Ospamox (500mg , 2 caps/dose , 2 times every day) + ciprofloxacin ( 500 mg , 1 cap/dose, two times a day) + Fucidin application for 7 days on penis.

Conclusion :
Please help me doc, as I really don’t know what to do now, latest diagnose is E.Coli, E.facelis only. My routine is mostly I eat food outside only. And rest I live alone. Recent I changed the doctor, he told me to wait and do not take any antibiotics more. Is it OK to go with advice of recent advice of doc ?. Or shall I start medication again.? Latest symptoms are only irritation in eyes, sometimes in penis ( very mild), also dizziness in mind, and tiredness in mind. Can’t focus sometimes etc.
Please give me best advice. Also, let me know if these bacteria can be pass on to my girlfriend if we have oral protected sex only (kissing, hugging, touching etc.)

[JD1963]

Hey Jim! You're Welcome! As I spoke of in my original post, these bacteria love to hang out in the Gastrointestinal tract. Therefore short of anal sex, I really couldn't guess how it got there. Best Wishes! JD1963

[mkh9]

These bacteria are normally found in the feces inside the intestinal tract. Sometimes they get spread by fecal contamination. Do you have a urinary tract infection or are they just on the outside of the penis? Is it a would on the penis or just on the surface? If you have a wound or urinary tract infection I would wait until it clears up at least a few days to have sex. It isn't really an STD but since you have a bacterial infection it could get transmitted to your partner. But most women have some degree of these organism in their vagina too and so it may not be a problem. It is just that the numbers of organisms may be higher than usual so it could cause  a problem. Also, if you have a wound it may irritate the area. If it is a urinary tract infection it probably doesn't matter to wait but it may be uncomfortable for you for a few days so that is my opinion on it. If you have a fever you may be getting the dizziness and tiredness from that and/or fighting off the infection and/or from the antibiotics.  Some species of E. coli and E. faecalis can be resistant too but usually they can find antibiotics to treat both of these at this point.  I can't answer the question about what is the risk of not getting treatment as I don't know if you have a wound or urinary tract infection or if it is just found on the surface of the penis. I need to know more information. If it is superficial and you can wash if off obviously it is just skin contamination. Otherwise you need to get treated for the other two possibilities. If a urinary tract infection it can get into your kidneys and cause a kidney infection.  The only alternative for a UTI is to try to drink lots of cranberry juice and water for several days and see if it goes away. You would have pain on urination and have to urinate frequently.  If it is a wound that could be more serious as it could get into your blood stream. So, it depends. In that case I would get treated and not have sex until it clears up. Let me know if you have any other questions. If You had the wound I wouldn't have oral sex either until it is clear. Kissing, hugging touching are fine with any of these problems as it is not infectious or contagious. Both of you just be careful when going to the bathroom (especially #2) wipe from front to back) and then wash your hands. Keep you body clean.

[jim_startec]

Thanks buddy.
But can you tell me, how it is transmitted to me ? I mean how I got these bacteria ?
Any idea.

[JD1963]

Hello Jim!

I don't feel you should be waiting, especially on the E. Faecalis (please don't confuse with E. Faecium) this is a serious bacterial infection. It is highly resistant to Antibiotics.

Both can easily be transmitted to your girlfriend. If it is isolated to your genitalia, it can be passed during unprotected intercourse.

Please realize that I can only give my opinion online, consult your physician (in your case ASAP) for all medical conditions.

These can be sexually transmitted, they reside in the Gastrointestinal tract.

I wish you the best of luck!