February / March 2007
Clap Trap
by Lucile Scott
Gonorrhea’s most surprising hiding place: your throat
A study released last fall by the San Francisco Department of Health and the University of California, San Fran-cisco found that up to 15% of sexually active gay men have asymptomatic gonorrhea in their throat, which they can pass to partners when performing oral sex. While positive people shouldn’t worry more than negative people about gonorrhea’s effects (which if untreated can cause infertility in men and pelvic inflammatory disease in women), they are more likely to transmit HIV when infected with the clap. Negative people, in turn, are more susceptible to contracting HIV when they have the clap—so be careful if you have unprotected sex. Ask your doc to screen your pharynx annually or every three to six months if you are highly sexually active. Gulp.
