Confused about HPV and NGU posts

[jesseconfused]

Hi there. I'm a 29 year old male. I saw a few posts that sound similar to what I'm going through, I just wanted some clarifcaton.

My girlfriend and I have been together for about a year. - we met when we were vigins. About a month before we met, I engaged in oral sex with a female friend. This friend has had sex with about 20 (!) guys before me. I was diagnosed with prostatitis about a month after that, but now I'm thinking that it could be NGU. My girlfriend was just diagnosed with vulval warts through a biospy.

1) Did she get HPV from me? A couple of posts down you were quoted by someone else saying "In any case, HPV doesn't travel from one's mouth to one's genitals." I'm confused, because she's only ever been with me (I'm certain of that).

2) Is it possible for somone to get HPV and NGU from the same oral sex encounter? Especially since my friend was with 20 guys before me?

3) My girlfriend's had an irrated vagina for about a year (right after she met me  - that's why I'm worried about timing).  Is that a sign of that things can recur after her Aldara is done? She did go over a year without treatment.

4) How longs does NGU last? It's been over a year now and I'm still store, even after all the antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.

5) My girlfriend had a biopsy done, which checks for all viruses. So can we put our minds at ease about herpes too, since that is also a virus?

6) I read on another site that if one partner has NGU, the other should be treated as if they have chlamydia - is that the case with us?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

1 and 2) HPV and NGU are entirely unconnected.  HPV is not normally transmitted by oral sex.  Whether your girlfriend caught her gential warts from you or elsewhere I cannot say, but her warts have nothing to do with the exposure you describe a year ago.

3) I can't speculate about the cause of your partner's year-long vulvar irritation, or whether it might affect her response to aldara.

4) Most nonchlamydial NGU probably resolves by itself over several weeks or a few months, but it has not been systematically studied--so no definite answer.

5) No, the only virus likely to show up as a specific diagnosis on a genital biopsy is HPV.  Herpes isn't diagnosed by biopsy when there is no visible herpes lesion.

6) Yes, NGU normally is treated with drugs that are active against chlamydia--both because chlamydia is a common cause, and because the same antibiotics usuallly work for both chlamydial and non-chlamydial cases.  But if you acquired NGU from oral sex, you can be confident it wasn't due to chlamydia.

Good luck--  HHH, MD

[jesseconfused]

Thanks doctor, that puts my mind at ease as far as her getting vulval warts from me, if that's what she has. I say that because I'm just confused as to where else she could have picked it up. She did have a wart removed on her neck as a child. Is it possible that the biopsy found HPV-1 in her system and just labeled it as vulval warts?

And a little off topic, but what about herpes? I read the faq, and it states that "There is no risk of acquiring genital HSV-2 infection from oral sex." Well let's suppose that I caught HSV-1 from that encounter: could HSV-1 have given my girlfriend HSV-2?

And I never saw any visible leisions on my friend that gave me the oral sex, nor have I experienced any symptoms, even though I know they can lay dormant. Even with my sore scotum/penis, would I have probably known by now if I caught herpes? What qualifies as mild symtpoms?

I only ask because my girlfiend keeps hetting a rash down there. Her doctor attributes it to sweat, although she's never had it this bad before. She had one small raw spot, but it never crusted over or anything before it went away. Again, doctor says rash. Baby powder seemed to help.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Trust her doctor.  Herpes doesn't cause a diffuse rash, just localized blister-like lesions or other sores that always recur in more or less the same spot.  And recurrent herpes always is one side of the body (or in the midline); it does not affect both sides of the genitals.  I'm sure she doesn't have herpes--or if she does, it isn't causing the symptoms you describe.

HHH, MD