A little worried

[jackson0000]

Hi Doctor,

I have a couple specific questions.  I am new to the board and am concerned about an encounter 8 weeks ago.  

8 weeks ago I received unprotected oral.  Lasted probably 2 minutes total.  

Never had any penile symptoms.  No discharge, no burning, no pain.  I did get pinkeye about 10 days after the event along with a sinus infection, and I saw this could be gonorrhea, which freaked me out.

1)  How safe is oral?  What are the odds of contracting something if you are the recipient?

2)  What are the odds of contracting something via receiving unprotected oral and not have discharge or burning?  I guess I am primarily concerned about gonorrhea, but I have read that with gonorrhea you would for sure know that you had it.  True?

3)  Should I be concerned if I have not shown symptoms besides pinkeye?

Thank you in advance for your help, I sincerely appreciate it.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

There is some risk of gonorrhea by receiving a BJ, but almost all gonorrhea causes classic symtpoms:  discharge of pus from the penis, often with painful urination.  Your other symptoms sound like a cold; gonorrhea doesn't cause sinus congestion, pinkeye is usually also due to viruses, and of course gonorrhea doesn't travel through the body from the penis to the nose, eyes or throat.  Absence of discharge and/or burning are strong evidence against any STD.

Sounds like you caught a cold, nothing more.  I would just let it go.  But if you remain nervous, you can always visit a local health department STD clinic, or your private provider, for STD testing.

Regards--  HHH, MD

[cbonner]

The doc will probably tell you that the risk of gonorrea being transmitted to you via oral is relatively small, However a small risk is still a risk. I read somewhere that nearly all males infected with gonorreah show a discharge as a symptom which you do not. To be honest i think your risk is miniscule from the exposure you describe but you may need to be tested purely for piece of mind but i am pretty sure you have nothing to worry about. Wait and see what the doc thinks but i thought i would post my personal thoughts on your probs. Good luck ( although i doubt you need it. )

[maxwell2211]

Thanks for the response.  Quick question:

When you say it does not travel up to the nose, eyes or throat, are you saying that in order to get pinkeye caused by gonorrhea, it would have to come into direct contact with the eye or eyes?  That getting urethral gonorrhea would not cause pinkeye?  Just trying to clarify.

Also, would you consider the unprotected oral "high" risk for gonorrhea?  1 in 10?  1 in 10,000?  dont want to split hairs, but just trying to ease the fear.  I would think that if I did in fact catch gonorrhea, I would know it.  But I am not a doctor, so who knows.  I dont want to put anyone else at risk for anything.

Thanks again for your help, I won't reply after you respond.  

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Yes, that's right; it comes from direct exposure of the eyes to infected secretions.  Anyway, gonococcal conjunctivitis is rare; in 30 years in a busy STD clinic, with thousands of gonorrhea cases over the years, I have seen exactly one case of it.

There are no data to put a numerical risk to the odds.  But it doesn't matter.  The absence of symptoms is strong evidence you weren't infected.  If you remain nervous, feel free to visit an STD clinic and have routine urine testing for gonorrhea and chlamydia.  But you can be sure of a negative result.

[jackson0000]

sorry, to clarify, would I be at risk for chlamydia as well?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Chlamydia rarely infects the throat and is not known to be transmitted by oral sex.  If it occurs at all, it is rare.