Oral with strep

[aquaman]

I'm a gay man with a question about the possibility of HIV transmission from oral sex with another man of unknown HIV status.  I confess to being paranoid about HIV transmission and, as a result, never let men cum in my mouth.  I won't even have anal sex outside a relationship (and even then, it's with condoms).  Please pardon the length of this post, but I feel I should provide as many details as possible.

In late October, I met a guy online and we agreed to get together.  He claimed to be very diligent about safety, and seemed very firm about not wanting to catch HIV.  He said his last HIV test was in May (Negative), mine was in August (also Neg).  We met up and clicked and enjoyed an afternoon of casual oral sex (both giving and receiving, without cumming in mouths).  I noticed this guy, like me, produces no pre-cum.  He casually mentioned that he sometimes has these "dry" orgasms, where he doesn't produce any ejaculate at all.  About a week later, we met again and, in spite of my having a sore throat, we engaged in another session of giving and receiving oral sex.  After we finished, he confessed that he had one of his "dry orgasms" while I was sucking on him.  I never detected any cum in my mouth and I made sure to keep him from pushing his penis too deep as I had some concerns about my sore throat.  He also later told me that a few weeks before we met, he had a terrible bout with the flu (fever of 104).  I became concerned that his "flu" was something more sinister, like seroconversion.

Three days after that "dry orgasm" encounter, I consulted my doctor about my sore throat and I tested positive for strep.  He also performed STD swab tests on my throat, all of which came back negative.  We briefly discussed the oral encounters with my internet guy and my doctor said they were very low risk.  He once worked in an HIV clinic and offered to do an HIV test, I think mostly to ease my concerns.  I knew the HIV test wouldn't show anything that quickly, so I passed.

On the twenty sixth day after the "dry orgasm" encounter, I started feeling chills.  I decided I should take a nice long soak in the jacuzzi and a hot shower.  Later that evening, I felt very warm and took my temperature: 102F.  I wondered if it was just carry-over heat from the jacuzzi/shower because by the time I went to bed a few hours later, my temperature was down to 100.5F.  The next day (day 27), I woke up feeling fine, but ended up leaving work early due to feeling feverish again (101F).  I had no appetite.  After taking a light nap, I felt so much better that I considered the previous 24 hours a mystery and I settled in with a couple glasses of wine.  That night, I awoke with horrible chills and night sweats and my temp spiked up to 102F again.  I had to change pajamas twice because they were soaked.  The next day (day 28), I felt fine, had no fever that I could detect or measure with a thermometer and I regained a bit of my appetite.  That night, however, the nighttime pattern repeated itself, though less severely: one bout with night sweats requiring a change of clothes.

I feel fine otherwise -- no lymph node swelling or pain, no fatigue, no diarrhea, no vomiting or rashes.  I had slight aches in my lower back the first day (day 26 after the dry orgasm), but they were gone the next day.

Obviously, I am very concerned about this.  I know I probably sound irrational, but emotions are not rational!  LOL.  Can someone advise me about oral sex and HIV transmission risks with strep or other throat infection?  I am worrying myself like crazy.  Thanks!

[Andy Velez]

First of all there is nothing HIV specific about your "symptoms." If they persist that is something to discuss with your doctor.

Nothing which you have reported in your activies leads me to think HIV is the issue for you. As you likely already know, your saliva contains over a dozen elements and proteins which very effectively prevent the transmission of viable HIV, if it is present.

If you find yourself continuing to worry about your status, there is a simple solution: get tested. You can do that initially at 6 weeks. Given what you have reported I expect a negative result. For a real risk testing should be at 13 weeks. You can decide if you need to re-test strictly for your peace of mind.

I don't see yours as an HIV situation.