Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
STDs (Expert Forum)
STD, HPV and unprotected cunnilngus, kissing
Answered by
Edward W Hook, MD - HIV Prevention, stds
Welcome to the STD Forum, which is intended only for questions and support pertaining to sexually transmitted diseases other than HIV/AIDS, including chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, human papillomavirus, genital warts, trichomonas, other vaginal infections, nongonoccal urethritis (NGU), cervicitis, molluscum contagiosum, chancroid, and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). All questions will be answered by H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D. or Edward W Hook, MD.
STD, HPV and unprotected cunnilngus, kissing
by Alexi959, Jul 15, 2009 09:14PM
I was exposed to a woman via unprotected cunnilingus and french kissing. I am worried about potentially giving her some form of an STD or HPV. I don't have any specific suspicion for an STD although I haven't got tested for quite some time and had several partners before. I also had a case of warts on my leg around the knee. I will urge her to get tested anyway, but since this is not logistically possible within the next 2 months I would like to have some peace of mind. I am not planning on repeating the oral sex experience, but can I at least touch her and kiss her? What are the odds of me causing any harm to her?
Thank a lot for your advice.
Thank a lot for your advice.
Doctor's Answer
by Edward W Hook, MD, Jul 15, 2009 09:53PM
, Jul 15, 2009 09:53PM
Your concerns are unfounded. Your chances of having any STD other than HPV are miniscule and thus your partner is not at risk. If this is a new relationship or if it is going to be ongoing, a good approach is for both you and your partner to go together for STD screening. Once you have both been tested and have negative test results, you will both be able to have confidence that you are not going to inadvertently give something to each other.
As far as HPV is concerned, there are over 100 different types of HPV of different types have a propensity to cause infections only at certain sites. Thus the HPV infection which caused the warts on your knee will not cause genital infections and genital HPV will not cause warts on your hands or legs. For better or worse, at present HPV is a "fact of life" and most people have it or will have it at some point in the future. Despite this fact, only a tiny minority of persons with HPV get the consequences of infection (primarily women and primarily cancer and pre-cancerous lesions). HPV is the most commonly acquired STD. Over 85% of sexually active women will have HPV infection at some time in their lives. The figure for men is less well studied but similar. In some HPV will cause genital warts, in others it will not cause warts but may lead to changes in PAP smears. In nearly everyone who gets HPV, warts or otherwise, the infections will resolve by themselves without therapy in 8-24 months. In a very small minority of women, HPV infection can persist and lead to the pre-cancerous lesions that PAP smears detect and which can then be treated. For men there is far less risk of any sort. For all of these reasons (that just about everyone has the infection, whether they know it or not, as well as that the infections so rarely causes complications and those complications are avoidable with regular health care), we really urge our clients to try not to be too worried about HPV. this is particularly the case in your situation.
Hope this helps. EWH
As far as HPV is concerned, there are over 100 different types of HPV of different types have a propensity to cause infections only at certain sites. Thus the HPV infection which caused the warts on your knee will not cause genital infections and genital HPV will not cause warts on your hands or legs. For better or worse, at present HPV is a "fact of life" and most people have it or will have it at some point in the future. Despite this fact, only a tiny minority of persons with HPV get the consequences of infection (primarily women and primarily cancer and pre-cancerous lesions). HPV is the most commonly acquired STD. Over 85% of sexually active women will have HPV infection at some time in their lives. The figure for men is less well studied but similar. In some HPV will cause genital warts, in others it will not cause warts but may lead to changes in PAP smears. In nearly everyone who gets HPV, warts or otherwise, the infections will resolve by themselves without therapy in 8-24 months. In a very small minority of women, HPV infection can persist and lead to the pre-cancerous lesions that PAP smears detect and which can then be treated. For men there is far less risk of any sort. For all of these reasons (that just about everyone has the infection, whether they know it or not, as well as that the infections so rarely causes complications and those complications are avoidable with regular health care), we really urge our clients to try not to be too worried about HPV. this is particularly the case in your situation.
Hope this helps. EWH
Member Comments (3)
by Alexi959, Jul 15, 2009 11:13PM
To: Dr. Hook
Doctor, thanks for a prompt and elaborate response. Just to clarify: do you think that my concerns are unfounded because I am unlikely to have any STD or because the risk of transmitting an STD through cunnilingus is low? Thanks again
by Edward W Hook, MD, Jul 16, 2009 11:24AM
, Jul 16, 2009 11:24AM
Both reasons contribute to my conclusions,. EWH
