How worried should I be about a possible 2 year old syphilis infection?
June 11, 2015 7:23 AM Subscribe
Let's say that after my doctor's appointment this week it's found that I contracted syphilis roughly two years ago and that I'm immediately given the standard treatment. How worried should a 26 year old man in apparently good health be about the consequences of having waited so long to be treated? How likely are cognitive or cardiac complications, and to what degree is teriary or neuro- syphilis an "all or nothing" affair? The wording of googled fact-sheets and CDC briefs isn't terribly precise (lots of "may cause complications" and "can occur in some instances").
Bonus question: Is it likely that I'll test positive? The occasion in question was penis-in-vaginia sex with a condom. Shortly after, within a week but possibly as soon as the next day, I had some sort of bump near the base of my penis which went away in a few short days. I haven't engaged in any kind of sex act since.
Bonus question: Is it likely that I'll test positive? The occasion in question was penis-in-vaginia sex with a condom. Shortly after, within a week but possibly as soon as the next day, I had some sort of bump near the base of my penis which went away in a few short days. I haven't engaged in any kind of sex act since.
I think it is pretty unlikely that you have syphilis. Did the women you have sex with have a chancre on or near her genitals? Have you experienced any possible symptoms apart from the bump? A bump doesn't even sound like what syphilitic sores are supposed to look like. It's much more likely to have been an ingrown hair, a pimple, heat rash, shaving irritation, or any number of much more likely and common causes. According to wikipedia, only 10% of syphilis infections occur in the developed world and you mentioning the CDC leads me to assume that you're based in the US.
You're getting tested this week, which is the most you can do. Try not to worry, as worrying is not going to be helpful. If the test does come back positive (and I think it is unlikely that it will), that's the time to find out the answers to your questions.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 7:55 AM on June 11, 2015
You're getting tested this week, which is the most you can do. Try not to worry, as worrying is not going to be helpful. If the test does come back positive (and I think it is unlikely that it will), that's the time to find out the answers to your questions.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 7:55 AM on June 11, 2015
Also, if you did get this bump the day after the sex, then it's highly unlikely to have been anything STI related. STI symptoms, whether a bacteria or a virus, do not appear that quickly.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 7:56 AM on June 11, 2015
posted by kinddieserzeit at 7:56 AM on June 11, 2015
Hang on - from the above-the-fold wording I had thought you meant you'd BEEN tested already. Are you actually just assuming you may have it? Because penis bumps the day after sex are generally from friction.
All that aside though - yeah, if you do have it and it's asymptomatic, you're fine after treatment.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:05 AM on June 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
All that aside though - yeah, if you do have it and it's asymptomatic, you're fine after treatment.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:05 AM on June 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
I believe what anonymous is saying is that he is getting a syphilis test done this week, and wants to know, hypothetically, if it is positive, what the issues related to that would be. And then also wants to know whether it is likely he contracted syphilis given that the exposure of concern is as detailed above.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 8:09 AM on June 11, 2015
posted by treehorn+bunny at 8:09 AM on June 11, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
Primary syphilis lesions usually take weeks to appear and weeks to go away (see same reference). The lesion of primary syphilis is like an ulcer - an open wound. So from the point of view of "I had a bump. Do I have syphilis?" It seems unlikely, but as I'm sure you know from looking it up, condoms can't prevent completely against contracting syphilis.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 7:46 AM on June 11, 2015 [3 favorites]