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Oral sex results in Syphilis transmission?

Hello, first of all I'd like to say thank you to anyone that is helping me.

I'm a 24-year-old male and I'm living in London, the UK. Here is my timing:

On 9, March, 2020 I hired a Brazilian gay male Escort and he gave me unprotected blowjob and I rimmed him. We didn't have intercourse.

On 3, June, 2020 I visited a Brazilian male masseur, he massaged me and gave me protected oral sex.

On 24, June, 2020 I visited an Italian male masseur, he massaged me and gave me protected oral sex. I put my condom-covered penis on his abdomen and ejaculated in the condom.

On 8, July, 2020 I found some red rashes near my left clavicle. There were not many but quite obvious. There were not on my right clavicle. So they were not in symmetrical pattern. These rashes were painless and itchless. No rashes found in any other part of my body. And these rashes completely disappeared after 5, August, 2020.

Today I encountered an article surrounding oral sex and syphilis and I was suddenly in panic. My question is:

1) As far as I have learnt from different articles and websites, syphilitic rashes are usually symmetrical and widespread on the body, is it correct?

2) I've learnt that syphilitic rashes usually appear 2-3 months after sexual activities. So my rashes appeared either too late or too early according to my activities in March and June?

3) I had carefullly asked the escort and masseurs about their STD status before visiting them and they all said negative. So, if they did have a chancre in their mouths, could it be easily missed by them?

4) is it easy to transmit syphilis through the receipt of oral job?

Thank you very much... and now I'm in the biggest panic since I was born. Every word of you will help me a lot....
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207091 tn?1337709493
COMMUNITY LEADER
I don't think you have any reason for your panic here.

Before I answer your questions, I'll explain the timeline of syphilis.

The first stage is called the primary stage. You'll see a round, open, painless sore at the point of infection anywhere from 10-90 days after infection. The average time for this is 3 weeks. This sore, called a chancre, lasts for 3-5 weeks.

The secondary stage is when you'll see the rash. The rash appears 2 to 8 weeks after the chancre does, sometimes before the chancre heals. The rash is usually widespread over the body, including your torso, palms of your hands and soles of your feet. It heals within 2 months.

The latent stage is when symptoms are gone, but the infection is still progressing through your body, and you won't have any symptoms. This can be as brief as a year, or much longer.

Tertiary comes after, but you wouldn't be there yet if you did have it, which I doubt.

First, your symptoms don't match. A small rash on clavicle isn't a syphilis rash. Oral sex can transmit it, but it's less risky than intercourse.

To answer your questions:

1) As far as I have learnt from different articles and websites, syphilitic rashes are usually symmetrical and widespread on the body, is it correct?

Yes.

2) I've learnt that syphilitic rashes usually appear 2-3 months after sexual activities. So my rashes appeared either too late or too early according to my activities in March and June?

Correct.

3) I had carefullly asked the escort and masseurs about their STD status before visiting them and they all said negative. So, if they did have a chancre in their mouths, could it be easily missed by them?

Chancres are tricky. They are painless, so they can be missed on the genitals if someone isn't checking. However, in the mouth - where you are often running your tongue over things, using a toothbrush, etc. - you are probably less likely to miss it.

4) is it easy to transmit syphilis through the receipt of oral job?

Yes, but syphilis is overall less common than gonorrhea or chlamydia, so the chances of getting it overall are much lower.

Is London still in lockdown? You can very easily put this to rest by getting tested. It's a very easy blood test. I suspect it will be negative.

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5 Comments
Thank you AJ. I've read a lot about the previous comments by Dr HHH and Dr EH. They said that oral syphilis was rare so the receipt of oral sex can basically be considered safe sex. And Dr Edward even said that syphilis cannot be transmitted by oral way - How confusing it is! Coz almost every website I visited agreed that it was possible and some thought it was a "common" way. May I know what your opinion is? Has the theory been changed a bit in recent years? Thanks
I will let AJ answer, as this is more her purview than mine, but you do have to distinguish between how people of science speak and what reality is.  As long as something is theoretically possible, no scientist worth their salt will say it isn't.  Even if whatever they're talking about has never happened.  So knowing something is theoretically possible doesn't mean it happens.  
Yeah, I agree with Pax on this. It's tough to interpret the subtle differences.

First, I'm surprised Dr. Hook said syphilis can't be transmitted by oral. It can. However, syphilis is fairly uncommon in general, and oral syphilis is even less common, so oral sex transmission is uncommon. Can it happen? Yes. Does it happen often? No.

Scientists often quibble over things like "very rare", "rare", "uncommon", etc. They are subjective terms. The CDC in the US says it's "very rare" to get the chicken pox after getting vaccinated for it, but there's actually a up to a 20% chance that you will. Is that "very rare"? They don't use those terms in regards to STDs at all. If there's even a theoretical risk, they'll mention it and scare everyone. Some will say that there is no risk if it's close to a zero risk.

It also depends on what you're asking about and where you're asking from. With syphilis, it's uncommon in developed countries, but more common in certain populations. When you get personalized answers, doctors will take all that into account. The answer may be different for a guy who did oral on a woman in London than a man in a less developed country who had anal with another man, for example. (No judgement here, or shaming - syphilis is more common in men who have sex with men than other groups, that's all.)

Ultimately, though, none of this even matters to you right now, since you can just test and find out for sure, right?

I found this on the NHS's site about testing during lockdown - https://www.shl.uk/%C2%A0 They can send you a kit, you do a finger prick (syphilis is a blood test) and send it back in. I don't think you have a need to test at all, but if this will help ease your mind, then you should do it.

There's also this - https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/sexual-health/where-can-i-get-sexual-health-advice-now/

Let us know what you decide to do. Know that if you test, it's for peace of mind.

Dear AJ. Thanks for your reply. I was planning to get tested. However, at the meantime, I contacted the three guys in the last two days and told them about my concern. They were all very generous and provided me with their recent medical check results (although one of them required some money which was not a big amount). Their results showed that they did the STI screening this year at 56 Dean Street, London and the result was sent to them by messages saying "Your syphilis test is negative (clear). You don't need any treatment." I think I can rely on this result because they did it this year and my sexual activities with them happened more than six months ago. Do you think so? The only concern is that, please forgive my being paranoid, what if they had syphilis last year and got treated, then did had only the RPR test this year, can it also be negative? Or a STI clinic always use both the RPR test and the TPPA to determine an infection? Thanks!!
You are seriously overthinking this. First, they were gracious is sharing their results with you, right?

Second, depending on the timing, the RPR might not be negative yet. Some people never go back to a true negative, and will always have a low positive on the RPR, like a 1:1 or a 1:2. The RPR and TPPA are very common and reliable tests.

Did you or someone else have the TPPA done? That's usually  - not always - done to confirm a positive.

Your reaction to this is showing more that you have some deep anxiety rather than any real risk of syphilis. I suspect you already know this, but if you aren't already talking to someone about this, please consider it.
Avatar universal
Can't tell you what that rash is, doesn't sound at all like an STD and if it didn't itch or hurt or anything at all maybe wasn't even a rash.  Can't really help you there.  If you're that concerned, get tested for any STD that can be passed orally.  But I do want to say, asking someone if they have an STD as your guide to whether they are safe to have sex with or not in that regard is a complete waste of your energy.  People lie, especially if the only way they get paid is to have sex with you.  Sometimes they just don't know, because they could have become infected after being tested if they're having sex with lots of different people.  If you have sex with those who engage in a lot of risky activity, you do increase the chances of getting something.  
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Avatar universal
I am also medhelp use like you. I don't know much about std but you don't have to worry about syphilis. Get tested after one or two month to stop your worries.
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Avatar universal
By the way, I am an overly cautious guy, so I checked my pubic area everyday, and I didn't see anything like a chancre on my penis or anywhere else after the three sexual activities.
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