WATCH WHAT YOU EAT
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
After reading your column on hand washing after urination [January 12], I’m certain I’m going to die–that is, if coliform bacteria are as bad as you say. My girlfriend and I often share the pleasures of fellatio and cunnilingus. Heck, one night I even got up the nerve to perform (ahem) analingus. But what about the dread coliform bacteria? I’m certain some of these bacteria came in contact with our mouths at some time. Yet I have never been sick due to these forms of sexual gratification. Do we just swallow it and put it back where it came from (our intestines) or what? Please don’t tell me I have to refrain from yet another fun thing to do. –Matt Hostetler, via the Internet; similarly from Peter Montgomery, Don Martin, Bubba the Salty Dog, Dr. Dormammu, J. Moore, Parker Trudeau, Joe Mantango, David Reid
It’s rare that a specific sexual practice is associated with spreading germs, but there are exceptions. About 20 years ago clinicians began noticing what has come to be called “gay bowel syndrome,” a collection of intestinal and rectal complaints that frequently plague gay men. Many of these illnesses stem from infection by fecal bacteria following anal sex–specifically, anal intercourse, analingus, and fellatio following anal intercourse. Some heterosexual couples (estimates range from 5 to 27 percent) also engage in anal sex, and they’re at risk too.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): illustration / Slug Signorino.
