Penicillin Questions (Help me HowardH)

[Pgoldberg]

This question is specifically for Howard but all can comment

This summer I was given oral sex by three csw.  just shy of 4 weeks after my last encounter, I went to clinic and was given 250 mg rocephin, 1 gram zithromax and I got a shot of 2.4 MU penicillin G benthizine as a precaution.  I did not see any chancre on my Penis and read two posts from 2009 from Dr. Handsfield that syphilis is eradicated from body and you are non infectious 24 hours after does of penicillin.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/How-long-are-you-contagious-after-treatment-for-syphilis/show/1031741


With this info, I had sex with my gf 44 hours after shot.  I never thought about the situation till last week, when doc called my gf and said she had a false positive rpr in which the tpph was negative after a routine check up.  I have seen two posts from  DR. HHH backing this info up. I have also seen very few academic books or papers stating eradication of syphilis in 24 hours.  Most of the sites and books that do give this info have been copied and pasted an exact sentence from a book STD hand book published in 1997.
I guess my question is, how confident should I be that I did not give my gf  syphilis? Her false positive test was only a couple of weeks from out last sex? Could the false positive actual be true and the tpph is just lagging behind the rpr?

I tested negative at the time of the penicillin shot and the day after finding out about the false positive.  

So if I was infected the treatment was effective. Finally, I have noticed that you told someone in july that people are rendered non infectious 24 hours after treatment. Where did you get this info?

[Pgoldberg]

I can clearly see you know what you are talking about, but given you moderate the forum along with two others it seems, it might be helpful to understand where you get this knowledge and if it is part of your professional practice.

No disrespect

[HowardH]

1) Yes. In fact, the confirmatory tests turn positive before RPR does.
2) I know what I'm talking about.
3) Nobody knows.

[Pgoldberg]

Thanks so much for your comments...a couple of follow ups.

1) Will the confirmatory test pick up syphilis so early in the disease? Will they always be positive at the same time or before the RPR?

2) What is your background in STDs? Are you in the health field?

3) This is for anyone....When are the doctor forums coming back?

[HowardH]

The RPR test frequently gives false positive results. This an inherent characteristic of all tests using the same basic technology going back to the Wassermann test -- the first syphilis test of all -- a more than a century ago.  Therefore, positive results with such tests always must be confirmed by a second test before being considered positive. Such a result is so common that it has a specific name:  biological false positive, or BFP. When the confirmatory test is negative, it is 100% proof that syphilis is absent.

My source about non-infectivity of syphiis within 24 hours of penicillin treatment is exactly the same as yours:  the STD expert forum, Drs. Hook and Hansfield.

So no worries.  All is well.  Neither you nor your partner needs additional testing or treatment.