The Ins and Outs of Gay Sex (47 page)

CONDYLOMA ACUMINATUM (GENITAL WARTS)
:
Average incubation time after close physical contact with an infected partner is thought to be approximately three months but can be as short as six weeks or as long as many years.
Many men who have sex with men carry this virus, but they may not have warts.
The infection may be incurable.

GONORRHEA
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An infected discharge begins two to five days after sex with an infected partner.
Pain is common for urethral infections but may be absent in anal infections.

HEPATITIS
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Typically you are infectious and can pass the virus to partners before you know you have it yourself.
Incubation periods from infection until the time you become ill vary, with hepatitis A averaging two to six weeks and hepatitis B and C averaging two weeks to six months.

HERPES
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Approximately one week after close physical contact with an infected partner, a burning sensation begins.
A day or two later a small cluster of blisters erupts.
Recurrent attacks are common, and the disease is incurable.

HIV
:
Symptoms of AIDS often don’t begin until ten years after infection.
Standard HIV antibody tests are often
positive two months after infection but can take as long as six months.
Viral load measurements sometimes can document infection within one month after exposure.

MOLLUSCUM CONTAGIOSUM
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Within one to three months after close physical contact with an infected partner, pin-size pimples with a central depression appear.
If untreated, they can continue to enlarge.

NONGONOCOCCAL URETHRITIS (NGU)
:
A clear or infected penile discharge begins one to five weeks after sex with an infected partner.
You might experience burning with urination.
Untreated infection can spread to your prostate and epididymis.

PEDICULOSIS PUBIS (CRABS)
:
Itching is often the first sign of infection and begins within one week after close physical contact with an infected partner.
If you’ve had crabs before, you are already sensitized and the itch begins almost immediately.

SCABIES
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Itching, which is generally worse at night, often begins within one week after close physical contact with an infected partner.
If you have already been sensitized, itching may begin immediately.

SYPHILIS
:
A chancre, or painless red ulcer, appears on your penis or anal region within ninety days after sex with an infected partner (average two to four weeks).
If untreated, the chancre heals but the disease advances.