Dr. Rakesh Kumar Bahunuthula
Dermatology
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Patient's Query
Dear doctor,
I have penile papules and want to get rid of them. Is there any way or medication? Please suggest. I got tested for all STDs (Sexually Transmitted Disease) and everything is negative.
Hello, Welcome to icliniq.com.
Can you tell me the duration of complaints? Is there any associated itchingor urethral discharge? What is your marital status, and if partner also having any complaints?
Patient's Query
Thank you doctor,
No itching. No urethral discharge and I do not know from when it is. I will tell you everything from when exactly I started noticing it. Nearly about seven and a half months ago, I had sex with a sex worker and it was totally protected. Exactly two months after the intercourse, I discovered three red bumps on my penis. I was scared. At that time, I was in my village. So, I showed it to the normal physician. He gave me a few antibiotics, antifungal, and an ointment and the bumps were gone in one and a half days. I did not have any pain while urinating, no fever, no weakness, nothing as such but my anxiety and internet searches killed me literally. After 15 days, when I went to the city, I got tested for each and everything. All the STDs (Sexually Transmitted Virus), VDRL(Venereal disease Research Laboratory), TPHA (Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay), hepatitis A, B, C, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), and herpes came negative except HSV (Herpes Simplex Virus) 1 and 2 IgG (Immunoglobulin G) positive by one point (1.2). So, I took Valcivir 1000 twice a day without telling the doctor. I got tested again after a week it came in negative. I was confused. I was told HSV once positive remains positive. So, I got myself tested from another lab. From that also, I got negative results. And also had a urine test. Everything was normal. I also got tested for HIV. 10, 12, 14, 16, 23rd week with HIV ELISA (Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay) serum test and p24 test. All came negative. Reason for HIV test was while intercourse when the lady was on top of me, her vaginal hair was shaved and it had grown a little bit so it slightly scratchedmy scrotum but there was no blood but surely her vaginal fluid touched the scratch. So, my questions are: Do I have herpes or was it false positive? 12-week HIV is considered conclusive but I got tested at 23 weeks and it was negative. So, should I be concerned with HIV? Or am I free of it? And penile papules was from a long time when there is erection then only I can see it. Without erection nothing is visible. Please tell me how can I get rid of that.
Hello, Welcome to icliniq.com.
HIV infection has a window period of one to three months during which the test results can be false negative. According to WHO (World Health Organization), all the tests are considered conclusive at 12 weeks after the last exposure. As your test results at 23 weeks is negative, you can be assured that you have not acquired HIV. IgG antibody against herpes is a sign of previous or resolved infection and has nothing to do with the need of treatment. IgG once positive remains positive for a lifetime. Hence the report is most likely false positive. The papules on the penis do not look infective. They are mostly due to sebaceous hyperplasia, that is, overactivity of oil glands on the genitalia.
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Dermatology
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