Herpes vs Fungal Infection - Infectious Diseases Message Board

Dallasboy · 08-24-2003, 12:46 AM

This is a brief history of my current problem.

I’ve been working out of town for the past couple of weeks. When I returned home this past weekend, me and my wife got some great news. She is pregnant. After a romantic dinner, we had sexual intercourse. During the sex, my penis (below the head on the right side) began to burn and seemed irritated. I figured we may have been too rough, but to tell the truth, it was nothing out of the ordinary. The next morning, I looked at my penis, and there was an area about ½ - 1 inch thick (all around) that was bright red and seemed somewhat inflated. The area was not painful anymore, until I washed it with lukewarm water and soap. This seems to be the only time it really bothers me. If I leave it alone, there is no pain. Also, there are currently no blisters or ulcers, urinating does not hurt, and I do not feel sick. It does not seem to be spreading, although it has only been one day. I am uncircumcised.

I was very worried about this, so I went to see a doctor at a minor emergency clinic. When he looked at the area, his reaction was “WHEN DID YOU GET THAT?” He said he believed it was herpes, but that it may be a fungal infection. The reaction I got from him was that he really did not know what it was. He was a young doctor, so his exposure to this may have been minimal. I got a swab test done. He prescribed Acyclovir and told me to put Clotrimazole 1% on my penis.

Unfortunately, I will be out of town next week, and won’t be able to get the results until next Friday evening. I was hoping for a second opinion, because after reading articles on the Internet, and seeing pictures, I don’t seem to have the “classic” symptoms of herpes. I don’t believe my wife has ever had herpes, and although I didn’t think I had herpes, this kind of worries me. I used condoms with women I’ve slept with before my wife. The only other “unprotected” sex I’ve had was with my first girlfriend, and we were both virgins.

Please give me your advice on whether or not you believe I have herpes, and let me know what this may do to our unborn child. What will happen if my wife gets her first herpes outbreak if she is pregnant? My wife will be seeing a doctor next week, but at least your thoughts may help me plan certain things out before I find out my results on Friday. Thank you very much.

projapoti · 08-24-2003, 01:55 PM

Hey there...I feel for you. I know that problems like these can be pretty nerve-wracking.

It doesn't really sound like a fungal infection OR herpes to be quite honest. Of course, I am ALSO young, and I haven't had much exposure, I haven't actually seen the lesion myself....but usually fungal infections will appear as tiny itchy bumps that appear on the head of the penis. Herpes is more of an ulcerative, painful condition. You may literally just have a blister in the skin of the glans, but the thing that kinda makes that seem a little less likely is because you said it's been there for a while.

I agree one thing, though, it is very important that herpes is ruled out, because if you do in fact have it, it is one of the few things that can cross the placenta and affect the fetus. (The others being: toxoplasmosis [which is why pregnant women should stay away from kitty litter boxes], Rubella, cytomegalovirus, HIV, herpes, Syphilis). Let me know what the test results are--I am intersted in knowing.

...and by the way, I think it's VERY good of you that you're thinking about not only yourself in this condition, but also your wife and your unborn child.

Congratulations on that by the way.

Dallasboy · 08-24-2003, 03:30 PM

Thank you for your response Projapoti.

I have only had the rash for about 2 days now. Although the rash does not hurt or look like blisters, the doctor’s reaction concerns me.

I am also very concerned about our unborn child. My wife and I had an ectopic pregnancy a few months ago. If something goes wrong with this pregnancy, we will both be devastated. This will be our first child.

I would appreciate any other guidance or suggestions you may have. It’s driving me crazy that I have to wait until Friday to find out. If I had to describe the rash, I’d say it looks as though there is blood right underneath the skin. Is it common for herpes to look simply like a rash and not be painful at all? Thank you and I’ll keep you updated.

so_confused · 08-24-2003, 09:09 PM

This EXACT thing happened to me. Except my girl isn't pregnant and there was no romantic dinner. About half way through intercourse my penis started to burn and on the right side, right below the ridge it was red and irritated. Viewing countless websites & pictures I am pretty sure it's not herpes, but maybe yeast infection. I did not know males could get them. I am not rueling out herpes for myself but it just dosen't seem like it. No blisters, no liquid in it. Just red irritated skin. Here is my suggestion, I don't know the link rules here but go to google.com and search for "male yeast infection" The first result has a few pictures of what it might look like.

And about your wife being pregnant. Check some herpes wesites on it, you'll find that MOST women with herpes have normal births where the child does not contract the virus unless an outbreak is present.