Aa
syphilis doubts
Hello docs. Please help on some doubts here, I have a question or two. In January of 2013 me and my fiance broke up and around mid to late January I had sexual encounters with a woman for one week, one time we did not use protection. In early February my fiance and I reconciled, we continued our sex life normally and did not use any protection, from February 9th to march 18th we had sex a few times unprotected. We were set to marry in April so I checked in to a local clinic for my prerequisite stds testing for civil marriage. It came back positive for syphilis, this was either the 28th of march or 4th of April, immediately I was treated with 3 doses of penicillin over 3 Weeks. Now me and my fiance checked in for our stds testing on may 15th. She came back negative, mine was still positive. The doctor explained she believed I was free from the bacteria but that antibody memory triggered the positive result. Now my questions, the last possible exposure of my wife from me was the 18th of march, she took her test may 15th, that's 8 Weeks(58 days), was her negative test conclusive at 8 weeks ? This is assuming of the 18th of march because we had sex before that in February too. I tested positive almost the same amount of time after my exposure. I never presented any symptoms, penis sores etc, nothing. Also docs, we married a couple of days after may the 15th and we had unprotected sex, was it ok to do so? I was already 6 weeks after my first dosage of penicillin treatment, I read before that after treatment you are rendered non infectious, is this true and could I have spread it to her that day? As orders from the doctor I retested in November and I came back negative. My wife and I have been away from each other since may so no sexual encounters. Our tests were VDRL tests. Please docs help me on these doubts.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your question.
There's a whole lot of important missing information needed for accurate replies to parts of your question. Please say more about your syphilis diagnosis. Did your doctor tell you what stage your syphilis was (primary, secondary, latent, etc)? Was the initial positive VDRL test result confirmed with another test, such as TPPA? The VDRL test gives a numerical result, called a titer. Can you tell me the dates and titers of all your tests? Had you had a previous syphilis blood test at any time before the first positive result? Where are you? Tell me the town or at least state, or country if not the US.
Also, was an attempt made to notify, test, and treat the woman you had sex with when you and your wife were apart? Was that woman confirmed to have syphilis?
Here are some preliminary thoughts while you dig up the missing information. It takes several months for the VDRL to become negative. Within a few days of your first penicillin shot, you would not have been able to transmit the infection to your partner. Your test eventually became negative, so you were cured. Your wife's negative test 8 weeks after your last exposure shows she was not infected.
I assume your fiance/wife was treated with penicillin, even though her blood test was negative. Please confirm that. If not, she may need treatment now.
If you are in the US, your infection should have been reported to the local or state health department. Have you been in touch with the health department? They could answer all these questions just as well as I can. But fill in the missing details and I may have more to say.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
There's a whole lot of important missing information needed for accurate replies to parts of your question. Please say more about your syphilis diagnosis. Did your doctor tell you what stage your syphilis was (primary, secondary, latent, etc)? Was the initial positive VDRL test result confirmed with another test, such as TPPA? The VDRL test gives a numerical result, called a titer. Can you tell me the dates and titers of all your tests? Had you had a previous syphilis blood test at any time before the first positive result? Where are you? Tell me the town or at least state, or country if not the US.
Also, was an attempt made to notify, test, and treat the woman you had sex with when you and your wife were apart? Was that woman confirmed to have syphilis?
Here are some preliminary thoughts while you dig up the missing information. It takes several months for the VDRL to become negative. Within a few days of your first penicillin shot, you would not have been able to transmit the infection to your partner. Your test eventually became negative, so you were cured. Your wife's negative test 8 weeks after your last exposure shows she was not infected.
I assume your fiance/wife was treated with penicillin, even though her blood test was negative. Please confirm that. If not, she may need treatment now.
If you are in the US, your infection should have been reported to the local or state health department. Have you been in touch with the health department? They could answer all these questions just as well as I can. But fill in the missing details and I may have more to say.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Thanks for the additional information -- but the situation still is quite unclear to me. Sorry you can't provide the titers and dates for all tests. And you didn't answer most of my other questions either.
It seems quite possible you were infected back in 2008 or earlier, and not from your new partner in January. And your doctor seems to think you had an old infection: new infections are treated with a single penicillin shot, but syphilis more than a year old is treated with 3 injections, like you were. Have you had any other kind of high risk sexual exposures, especially in those distant past years? Any sex with other men? (Syphilis is rare in heterosexuals in the US, but very frequent in men who have sex with men.)
I'm afraid this is just all too complex to be sorted out on this forum or on line. As discussed in my original reply, if you are in the US, probably your local or state health department has been involved and might be able to fill in the details you don't understand. Or you can discuss it with the doctor who treated you.
It seems quite possible you were infected back in 2008 or earlier, and not from your new partner in January. And your doctor seems to think you had an old infection: new infections are treated with a single penicillin shot, but syphilis more than a year old is treated with 3 injections, like you were. Have you had any other kind of high risk sexual exposures, especially in those distant past years? Any sex with other men? (Syphilis is rare in heterosexuals in the US, but very frequent in men who have sex with men.)
I'm afraid this is just all too complex to be sorted out on this forum or on line. As discussed in my original reply, if you are in the US, probably your local or state health department has been involved and might be able to fill in the details you don't understand. Or you can discuss it with the doctor who treated you.
Hey doc, thank you for the help. In 2010 I had a blood test done from a general check up but I don't know if they checked for stds, they have an isoniazid treatment for months, I forget exactly what my blood had that I needed such treatment so I don't know if they checked for stds. My last sexual encounter before meeting my wife was in 2008, I met her in 2011 and had no other sexual encounters besides that hiccup in early 2013 which I regret doc. Im not sure if it was reassured by the test you mention doc however I told them if it was conclusive and they told me it was a sure positive, excuse my vague memory doc. I don't have my first document of my diagnosis in early April or late march, I do have the one from my second blood test in may after my treatment, it says positive 1:2 (control). Again that is after my treatment, unfortunately I left my first one back in Mexico doc. All this happened in Mexico doc, when I returned to meriden CT I informed my primary care doctor about my diagnosis in Mexico and we did the retest in november. Unfortunately doc I don't know much about what happened to the woman I encountered in January in terms of syphilis status, however I do know she became pregnant months after that through her facebook account, I assume she was treated doc. like I said I had not been with anybody else since 2008 to when I met my wife in 2011. So it is safe to say I could not have had syphilis from 2008 right? Lastly doc my wife did not receive treatment because she could not pick up our results together at the time, instead I picked them up myself, is it a priority for her to get treatment despite not being infected doc? Also doc I still don't fully understand how on earth I did not infect her doc which I thank God I didn't.
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
