I am not sure if you will still respond to this post, but I have one more question. Tonight I noticed a small bump, about the size of a pin head, on my scrotum. It was on the front of hte scrotum, about one and a half inches from the penis. The top of it looked somewhat pimple like, but perhaps a little clear on the top.
I popped it, and some whitish clear liquid came out.
This bump does not itch or hurt in any way. There is only one bump so far, no cluster. It has been 13 days since my exposure.
1)Does this sound like herpes 2 or syphalis?
2) Do herpes bumps always show up in clusters? Do the clusters form one bump at a time, or show up one at a time?
3) Since I popped this one, if it is herpes, what should I expect next from the bump...just so I can be on the look out. Will it reform in a pimple like bump, or perhaps weep?
Knowledge about HPV, especially transmission and prevention, is a very rapidly moving target. Some internet and other sources don't have the latest information, simply because it is impossible to keep up. Others are biased by polictical perspectives; the religious and political right, for example, has long over-emphasized the dangers of HPV, risks of transmission, and supposed lack of protection by condoms. Happily, this (probably) does not pertain to the NIH (NIAID) site you quote.
The NIAID statement does not mean a 67% risk of transmission per episode of sex. Further, note that it refers to warts, not asymptomatic genital HPV infection. Among people who have partners with recognized (symptomatic) gential warts, 2/3 eventually develop warts themselves. Most of those people have multiple exposures to their wart-infected partners, mostly without condoms. Evolving data--improving all the time--make it clear that the per-exposure risk of acquiring HPV in condom-protected sex is low. In any case, no test is available to determine whether someone in your situation acquired HPV, so the issue is moot in terms of your question about being tested for STDs.
HHH, MD
Doctor, I have one follow up question. I am trying to reconcile what you said about the risk of getting HPV with some statemest I have found around the internet. I totally trust your advice, but I just want to understand.
On the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease website, there is the following statement.
"About two-thirds of people who have sexual contact with a partner with genital warts will develop warts, usually within 3 months of contact."
This statement, coupled with the fact that HPV is so prevalent, would seem to indicate the risk of HPV infection might be greater than the estimate you gave in your response above.
Sorry to question your estimate...but the internet info out there has really freaked me out and I want to calm myself down once and for all. Again, thanks for the advice.
Doctor,
Thank you so much. This is the only place on the internet that provided me any comfort. I will not make the same mistakes again. Thank you.
You could hardly have safer sex than you did. Your risk of HIV acquiring HIV or any other STD was extremely low. To your specific questions:
1) True, your HIV risk was zero, even if you partner had HIV (which she probably didn