Oral Gonorrhea

[jce23]

About a week ago I had unwanted oral contact with semen. Approximately 2 days later, I had a sore throat. About 2-3 days after that, I had a nurse look at my throat which was very sore at that point and she told me that I had a serious infection and to have a strep test immediately. I went to the doctor and both the strep and mono tests came back negative. I only had a sore throat, the infection in my throat (white spots and pus pockets), tiredness (which I just thought was being tired) and an achy body (which I attributed to working out). The doctor determined that it was either strep throat and did not come up on the test, or it was just some other throat infection. He gave me a prescription for biaxin, 2x a day for ten days. After doing some digging, I learned about oral gonorrhea. Could this possibly be what I have? And if so can it be cured by biaxin (antibiotic)?

[Stillworried21]

Have u had a swab for oral thrush? That could be a possibility? And it wouldn't be treated by antibiotics.

Also can I ask, I've had 2 throat swabs, one for thrush and one for gonorrhoea. My thrush swab came back positive so I'm taking tablets for that. I'm still worried for gonorrhoea but I'm concerned if I have oral thrush that the gonorrhoea might not be picked up?
I know oral gonorrhoea isn't common but I got a sore throat about 2 days after giving oral sex and it hasn't gone since(6weeks)! And the discomfort is right down my throat.

[HowardH]

Oral gonorrhea is actually pharyngeal, i.e. the back of the throat. It is unlikely you would acquire it just by getting a little semen in the mouth, although I can't say it would be impossible. However, pharyngeal gonorrhea is usually (over 90% of cases) asymptomatic, with no pain or anything else. Here too there are exceptions, and once in a while it causes severe pharyngitis like yours. So the direct answer is yes, this could possibly be what you have. But it is very unlikely. By far the most likely explanation is a virus or other infection.

Clarithromycin (Biaxin®) is not reliable against gonorrhea, although the fairly large dose you were given might be effective. If you promptly discuss your gonorrhea concern with the doctor's office -- i.e. before you have taken the antibiotic more than a day or two -- a culture test could be done. If that isn't feasible, I suggest you just sit tight and see how your symptoms do. Assuming things get better -- either because of the Biaxin or because viral infections usually clear up pretty quickly on their own -- you could have a follow-up swab test for pharyngeal gonorrhea in 2-3 weeks.

Good luck.