Transmission worries

[moet88]

Hello,
I am worried about some possible transmission scenarios. My boyfriend and I are not having sex, however we do sometimes engage in foreplay that results in ...stimulation. My boyfriend's penis tends to "leak" whenever we have any kind of foreplay, and I am worried about possible infection or pregnancy from this. The only things we have done include rubbing of hands/genitals on genitals but over underwear, which tends to get wet.

1. Is such leakage common or does this indicate some kind of disorder or infection? It usually only leaks when his penis goes "soft" again. But it happens every time he goes soft, and I find spots of the stuff on my bedsheets and clothes. He doesn't seem to think it is a big deal but I have not heard of this happening in most men.

2. What is the risk of infection from such leakage? For example, could I get herpes if this leakage gets through my underwear?

3. Would it be possible to acquire herpes infection from saliva through my underwear?

4. Could asymptomatic shedding travel through wet clothing to infect?

Both of us have been tested for HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, HSV1 and HSV2 and are negative. He has also tested negative for gonorrhea and chlamydia. I do worry about the possibilities of false negatives though, particularly with herpes, which I've read people's antibody levels can fluctuate.

I sincerely appreciate your input.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to our Forum. In preparing to address your questions I reviewed some of yoru earlier interactions on other MedHelp Forums and community sites.  Let me first congratulate you on your approach to your relationship and the steps you have taken to minimize any risk for STI- this is taking responsibility for your sexual helath and it will serve you well.  As long as the relationship between your and your BF remains monogamous, your risk for any STD is miniscule and I would urge you to worry.

As for your specific questions, answers below using the same sequence of numbers that you used:
1.There is nothing abnormal about this.  As men are arroused and get errrections they produce so-called pre-ejacualtory secretions from the gland in the penis an genitals in much the same way that women expereince increased genital secretions with arrousal. This is not abonormal and does not pose a risk for infection, particualrly when your BF has been tested and found to be negative to common STDs.

2.  See above.  Further, even if he is infected, and as I understand it, there is good evidence that he is not, STDs are not tansmitted through clothing, even wet clothing or contact with material which is wet from gential secretions.

3.  No.

4.  No, no way.

Once again, in closing, let me congratulate you on the steps you and your BF have taken thus far and let me urge you not to let concerns about STDs inhibit ornegatively impact your relationship. You have done things right- feel good about this and your relationship. EWH

[moet88]

Thank you very much doctor! I am guessing in the first paragraph you meant "not" to worry?

Would your answers here hold true if there was just one layer of underwear present, say, if only I had underwear and he was naked?

Thanks

[Edward W Hook, MD]

You are correct, I did mean that I was urging you NOT to worry.

My answers would not change even if there was only a single layer of underwear or if the underwear was quite thin.  EWH

[moet88]

Thank you Dr. Hook. Just for future reference and a better understanding from a biological standpoint, can't such pre-ejaculatory leakage carry things like HIV and Hepatitis B? So if I were to engage in actual sex or allow such pre-fluids inside my body I could become infected right? Are you saying such leakage doesn't pose a risk for infection simply because of the presence of clothing?

So how exactly do clothes limit transmission if they become soaked?

I ask because one time he rubbed his penis on my vulva, over my (wet) underwear, he wore a condom, but he almost put it on the wrong way and had briefly touched the opposite side to his penis tip before flipping it around. So if in case his herpes test was mistaken, what if whatever got on the condom tip was rubbed through my underwear?

I am sorry, I am just not sure if I am being obsessive or actually irresponsible. I appreciate your input.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

You are being a bit obsessive here.  The reasons that STDs arenot passed through clothing, even when wet are multiple and rather complex but the short answer is that there are multiple reasons that STDs are not transmitted in this way.  these include that:
1.  The organisms do not live well outside the human body and dead or even dying organisms do not casue infections.
2.  The organisms biochemically "stick" preferrentially to material fibers.
3.  That the secretions do not enter the body or, if they do, they do not do so insufficient quantities to cause infection.

Could it theoretically happen, I suppose, just as you could be struck be a meteor from space while reading this.  Will you get infected (if your BF was infected which is also unlikely), no.  I would not worry about falling meteors or getting infected during foreplay through your clothing.  EWH

[moet88]

Hi Dr. Hook,
Sorry to bring this up again. But you do understand I am asking about manual and genital stimulation through clothing...not simply lying next to each other spooning or something. So there is rubbing and friction of either hands, mouth, or genitals on each other's genitals, through clothing. Do your answers change in that case? Or am I still safe?

Thank you very much and happy holidays.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

You are worrying entirely too much.  I understood what you meant the first time you asked.  My answer will not change.  EWH