It’s also important to keep in mind that HPV is incredibly common and there are approximately 150 strains of the virus, most of which cause no harm and present no symptoms. The majority of sexually active adults will have at least one HPV infection during their lifetime and not even know about it. In fact, HPV is so common that we often refer to it as the “common cold of the genitals.” Our HPV Patient’s Guide has lots of great information on HPV if you’re interested. 

The most important thing you can do for yourself is to get a PAP screen every three years. You may also want to consider the HPV Vaccine (Gardasil-9) if the cost is not too prohibitive.

Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns. Health Nurse

I would add that simply because someone does sex work, this does not mean that they have HIV. In fact you have indicated that this person told you that they do not have HIV and that they are “well-reviewed” on their profile. Whether you engage in sexual contact with someone who does sex work, or with someone you met online or at any other venue, it is important to consider precautions you may want to take against infections. As already noted, oral sex is generally pretty low risk for HIV but other infections such as HSV, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea can be more easily passed this way. Regardless of the partner, condoms are a good way to prevent or to decrease the chance of passing these infections.

Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse

For more information on a variety of sexually transmitted infections please visit STIs at a Glance or for info about transmission risk check out Know your Chances.

Please let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse

I don’t know what the discharge might have been, but it can be common to have some irritation to the urethra after having sex. During intercourse there are lots of microbes (non-harmful, normal healthy bacteria) that can be passed between partners. While these microbes don’t necessarily cause an infection they can get up into the urethra and cause some irritation. Staying well hydrated, urinating frequently (especially right after sex) and drinking cranberry juice or taking some cranberry supplements can help with this discomfort.

Finally, yes some STIs could be passed from your finger’s to a male partner’s genitals, if your fingers had been touching your own genitals first and there is an infection already present. The most common things would be infections passed through skin to skin contact such as HPV, herpes or even syphilis. So for example, if a person has an active herpes outbreak on their genitals and touches the sores, then immediately touches their partner’s genitals, it would be possible to pass that infection to the partner.

You might find our STIs at a Glance chart helpful as it gives a quick overview of how different infections are passed.

Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse

Actually I can see that you have written to us previously with this same question. It is very difficult to live in a place where there is still a lot of stigma around HIV. It is also difficult to function in everyday life when we feel this much anxiety. It seems from your question and from the number of times that you have posted that question, that you are feeling a lot of anxiety about the possibility of an HIV infection. The fact is, you’ve had a negative test result more than 3 months after the encounter. This means that you are HIV negative.

The symptoms that we sometimes see associated with HIV seroconversion are what we call non-specific symptoms. This means that while swollen lymph nodes can be present with an HIV infection, for example, they can also be present with a multitude of other harmless things, such as a common cold.

Interestingly enough, all the symptoms that you’ve described to me can also be attributed to high levels of continued stress and anxiety. When we are feeling particularly anxious we don’t sleep. And when we don’t sleep, we get sick. When we are worried, maybe we don’t eat a normal healthy diet. And when we don’t eat, we lose weight.

In sexual health, we often meet people who are experiencing anxiety about an infection, but when we talk about it further, we discover that the actual feelings are around a new or different sexual encounter that the person feels unsure or ashamed about. I cannot determine exactly where your anxiety is coming from, but perhaps this is true for yourself.

At this point, I would strongly recommend that you see a professional counsellor or a healthcare professional about the level of anxiety you are feeling. Sometimes talking through these things in person can be helpful and counsellors have a lot of different tips and tricks to help people work through their anxious thoughts. In any case, further testing for HIV will likely not be helpful at this time, and will indeed most likely be more harmful to your mental health.

Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse

Generally speaking, we don’t see STIs passed this way. HIV and different types of Hepatitis are passed through blood and body fluids like semen and vaginal fluid. Chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis are passed through semen, vaginal, and anal fluids. Syphilis can also be passed through direct contact with a lesion (syphilis sore).

There aren’t any STIs that are carried in saliva. The only thing that could potentially pass this way would be Herpes Simplex Virus, but it would be extremely unlikely in this case. Herpes is passed by skin to skin contact. If the person you had sex with had a very fresh, open sore in his or her mouth and then spit directly on your skin it is possible there could have been virus contained in the saliva which was passed to you. But again, this would really be more of a theoretical risk than a practical one.

If you are still concerned, the best thing would be to see a healthcare provider and get tested for STIs. In fact, we recommend this routinely for any sexually active adult, whether they have symptoms or are worried about a particular encounter or not.
Have a look at our STIs at a Glance chart as well, as it gives a good snapshot of how STIs are passed.

Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns. Health Nurse

In terms of this encounter, I would not be concerned. However, in general we always do recommend regular testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) between every 6-12 months for all sexually active individuals. A routine test would include screening for HIV, syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea. These infections often do not have any symptoms at all, so it’s good to just get checked out once in a while.

Have a look at our Clinic Finder to help locate a clinic in your area.

You also might want to check out our STIs at a Glance and Know Your Chances charts for a basic overview of different STIs and how they are passed.

Let us know if this does not answer your question or if you have any more questions or concerns.
Health Nurse

For the majority of people, the virus will clear the body on its own without causing symptoms/warts or problems. 

For those who do get symptoms (genital warts), most of these will eventually go away with or without having them treated, often within 18-24 months. Once your genital warts are gone, this does not mean the HPV infection is gone or cured. Genital warts can come back and you can get HPV again from a partner who has it.

There are now vaccines that protect against the more common HPV types. The vaccine will not help you get rid of HPV if you already have it, but it can prevent future infections. To learn more about the HPV and other vaccines, click here.

Resources

• Genital Warts page on SSR.com
• BCCDC (2019) HPV: A Patient’s Guide
• NNPBC (2018) Genital Warts DST
• PHAC (2014) CGSTI: Management & Treatment of Specific Infections – HPV
• CDC (2021) STI Treatment Guidelines: HPV Infection

• blood
• semen (including pre-cum)
• rectal fluid
• vaginal fluid
• breast milk

HIV can be passed when one of these fluids from a person with HIV gets into the bloodstream of another person—through broken skin, the opening of the penis or the wet linings of the body, such as the vagina, rectum or foreskin. HIV cannot be passed through healthy, unbroken skin.

The two main ways that HIV can be passed are:

• through sex
• by sharing needles or other equipment to inject drugs (including steroids or hormones)

HIV can also be passed:

• to a fetus or baby during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding
• by sharing needles or ink to get a tattoo
• by sharing needles or jewelry to get a body piercing
• by sharing acupuncture needles

HIV cannot be passed by:

• shaking hands, working or eating with someone who has HIV
• hugs or kisses
• coughs, sneezes or spitting
• swimming pools, toilet seats or water fountains
• insects or animals

Does this answer your question? Please let us know.

Although there is no major risk exposure in the case that you’ve mentioned to me, these are the key clinical indicators of an active herpes outbreak/infection

GENERAL SYMPTOMS CAN INCLUDE:
• One or more sores that look like
water blisters, cuts, or broken skin
• The skin can feel itchy, tingling, burning, raw, or painful
• Fever, headache, or muscle aches
• Feel tired and not well

SYMPTOMS OF GENITAL HERPES CAN INCLUDE:
• Pain in your legs or buttocks
• The lymph nodes in the groin can be swollen and tender
• Painful urination (peeing)
• A change in vaginal discharge
• Swollen genitals

Does this answer your question? Please let us know.