Answered Questions

Unfortunately, the only way to know if you have an STD (or not) is to get tested.

Like you mentioned, some STDs don’t create any symptoms, and it’s not possible to tell if someone has an STD based on the presence or absence of symptoms.

Further, there is no timeframe by which we can say a person would have either cleared, or become aware of having, an STD. We know that some STDs like Syphilis and Chlamydia can live in the body for years without creating symptoms… In the case of syphilis this can even be 20-30 years!

That said, condoms protect against most STDs, so the chance of getting an STD from protected sex is much lower than that of unprotected sex. However, some STDs (like Syphilis) are passed through skin-to-skin contact, which can occur even when using a condom.

If you’re concerned that you have been exposed to an STD we would recommend getting tested. Testing can be easy and confidential, and can be done with your regular family doctor, at a walk-in clinic, or at an STD Clinic. For a list of STD clinics near you check out our Clinic Finder page.

Hope this helps. Please feel free to comment below or submit another question as needed.

Health Nurse

You’re correct that once someone has been exposed to HSV type 1 or 2 it’s unlikely for them to develop a new infection on a different part of the body. Once someone is exposed to HSV type 1 or 2 they will usually develop antibodies to that type and those antibodies provide good protection from having the same type of HSV being passed to a different part of the body.

The only exception is in the first 4 months after initial exposure. It takes up to 4 months for most people to develop antibodies, and if your partner was only diagnosed with HSV 1 or 2 in the past 4 months he may still be susceptible. However, if he was diagnosed more than 4 months ago, then he will have antibodies that will provide good protection.

One other thing I want to clarify: Have both you and your partner had your HSV 1 and 2 typed? That is, when you were given those diagnoses was it through a swab or blood test? Some people assume that HSV 1 is only on the mouth, and that HSV 2 is only on the genitals, but that is not true. A person can have can have the same type (1 or 2) on both their mouth and genitals, so you can’t just assume that because someone has HSV in two places that they’ve been exposed to both types. It would be good to clarify with your partner… If he just assumes he’s had both HSV 1 and 2 because of the locations of his outbreaks, he could just have type 1 or type 2 in both places (and still be susceptible to the other type).

Lastly I just wanted to say, despite herpes being one of the most common STIs (we estimate that 89% of Canadians have type 1 or 2 or both), we still see lots of stress and confusion around HSV. Unfortunately not everyone has been able to get a good education regarding herpes, and different peoples’ reactions to hearing their partner has herpes can reflect the education the person has gotten (or not gotten) about the virus. You may find that some people are not bothered by herpes at all, whereas other people will need more education. Hopefully you and your partner can find some understanding.

For more in-depth information on HSV take a look at our Patient Guide to Herpes.

Please feel free to comment below or submit another question as needed.

Hope this helps.

Health Nurse

Untreated chlamydia and gonorrhea can potentially cause the following complications:

• Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection of the reproductive organs, including the uterus (womb), fallopian tubes, and ovaries. Because PID can damage the reproductive organs (and potentially cause infertility), it is important to seek health care quickly. To learn more about PID, click here.
• Epididymitis is when the epididymis is inflamed. The epididymis is a long, tightly coiled tube that lies above and behind each testicle. To learn more about epididymitis, click here.
• Infertility – challenges with getting pregnant.
• Ongoing pelvic pain, including painful periods.
• Ectopic pregnancy is when a pregnancy occurs outside of the uterus (usually in the fallopian tube). If left untreated, this can be life-threatening.
• Reactive arthritis is an autoimmune response, causing ongoing symptoms of urethritis, conjunctivitis and arthritis.

If you think you have an untreated STI, or are experiencing any symptoms, we would recommend seeing a health care professional. You can to go your regular family doctor, a walk-in clinic, or an STI clinic for these concerns. If you need help finding an STI clinic in your area, check out our ’Find a clinic’ tool.

Resources

• HealthLinkBC (2020) Epididymitis
• HealthLinkBC (2020) Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
• PHAC (2021) Chlamydia & LGV guide: Public Health Importance
• PHAC (2021) Gonorrhea guide: Public Health Importance
• Gov. of Canada (2020) Booklet: Sexually Transmitted Infections

It sounds like the doctor you saw was pretty confident when diagnosing the Molluscum. Every doctor has different specialities and experiences, and if the doctor you saw doesn’t have a lot of experience with genital warts or Molluscum it’s possible that there was a miss diagnosis. However, Molluscum is very common and it would not be unusual to be diagnosed with it.

Without seeing you in person it is hard for me to confirm the diagnosis you have been given, but here is some general information:

Molluscum Contagiosum is a virus that can be passed through skin-to-skin contact. It usually appears as round bumps with a small indent in the centre of the bump (almost like a ‘donut’). Molluscum can also have a white head in the centre of the bump. Molluscum can appear anywhere on the body, including: genitals, buttocks, stomach, legs, arms, neck, face. The bumps are painless but often feel itchy.

Genital warts are also caused by a virus that is passed through skin-to-skin contact. Warts usually appear as oddly-shaped textured bumps, and are often confused with skin tags. Genital warts only appear on the genitals and do not occur on the stomach, legs, arms, neck, or face. Genital warts are painless and usually not itchy.

Generally, Molluscum Contagiosum is not dangerous, and you should not be worried. The virus can be treated (either with a light spray of liquid nitrogen or by “unroofing” the bumps), and once the virus is gone it does not stay in the body (unlike genital warts and HPV). While the bumps are present it is possible to pass the virus to another person or to other parts of your body. To lessen the chance of spreading the virus to other parts of your body it’s best to avoid shaving that area until the bumps are gone. Also, after showering/bathing it’s a good idea to use a separate towel when drying the area of your body where the bumps are, as using the same towel on all of your body can spread the bumps.

If you’d like a second opinion you can always go to an STI clinic for a consult. Check out our Clinic Finder to access an STI clinic near you.

Hope this helps! Please feel free to submit another question and/or comment below if you need more clarification.

Health Nurse

The symptoms you have described can be caused by many different medical conditions. The only way to find out if HIV has been passed to you is by doing a HIV test. Let us know if you need help finding a clinic near you that offers HIV testing.

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful.

When VZV is on the genitals it would look the same as a HSV outbreak. The only way to tell the difference is by doing the swab.

I don’t know your complete medical/sexual history, but with what you have described I would have no reason to think you have HSV-2. The swab test you have done shows it found VZV which is the chickenpox virus and it is common for this virus to reactivate and develop as shingles anywhere on the body. We see situations like you have described at our STI clinic were people believe they are having a HSV outbreak but it turns out to be shingles.

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful.

The symptoms that occur during HIV Seroconversion Illness are very common to many kinds of illnesses, including the flu. Without knowing your sexual health history I can’t say if your symptoms are likely to be related to HIV, but I can give you some general information.

Dry cough is not typically seen as part of Seroconversion. Headache and tiredness can sometimes been seen as early HIV symptoms, however those symptoms alone are not enough to say whether or not you have HIV.

HIV is passed through unprotected sexual contact.

If you’re concerned that you may be at risk for HIV we would recommend getting a blood test. HIV testing is easy and can be done with your family doctor, at any walk-in clinic, or at an STI clinic. See our Clinic Finder to find an STI clinic near you.

Please leave a commnet below if you need any additional information.

Health Nurse

Trichomonas is a rare STI. Men are not typically screened for it because of this reason. If your other STI test results are negative I would consider that conclusive.

Also the sexual contact you’ve described is not likely to pass an STI or Trichomonas.

It sounds like you’re having symptoms of a UTI. I would recommend going to your doctor or a walk-in clinic and getting testing (urine culture) and treatment for a UTI. Although UTIs are less common in men than women, they can still happen.  It’s important to treat a UTI with antibiotics so that it does not spread to the kidneys.

Please leave a comment below if you need more information or clarification.

Health Nurse

From what we know about HIV and lactose intolerance, it seems to develop later-on after HIV diagnoses (not right away).

Regarding your HIV tests… 8 months is more than enough time for your tests to be accurate. If you’re testing non-reactive 8 months past a possible HIV exposure, we would say you can be very confident in those results.

Lactose intolerance is very common, and can occur suddenly even in people who have never had problems with dairy before. We know this can happen as people get older as well.Check out this page on Healthlink BC for more information. 

If you find that bloating and gas are becoming significant problems for you I would reccomend making an appointment with your doctor, or going to a walk-in clinic.

Hope this helps. Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

In terms of STI related I would get another STI test done. If you had a STI/HIV test at 2 weeks it may not have been enough time to pick up some of the STI in a test. Make sure that they check for syphilis as well. It would also be good if you were able to tell the health provider you are seeing that you want to make sure it is not STI related. Some conditions like scabies can cause itching, be passed when having sex but currently have no test to check for this, you need a health provider to do a physical exam who has experience with scabies.

If it ends up not being STI related and the health care professional you see is unsure of what is causing the problem you could always get a referral to a dermatologist. Dermatologist specialise in skin conditions like you have described. Let us know if you need help finding a health professional in your area.

Please leave a comment to let us know if this answers your question or if you need more information.

Health Nurse

For other readers, please feel free to leave a comment, or let us know if this was helpful.