Q Doc, I am an 18-year-old woman. When I was 14, I was sexually involved with a 23-year-old.

I would like to know what would happen if my parents found out about this now. Could he go to prison?

Although we are not together any more, I'm practically an adult now.

A I do hope that your email does not signify that you are thinking of restarting your sexual relationship with this guy. What he did when you were 14 was take advantage of your youth. It was wrong. You should steer clear of that unpleasant man.

What would happen if your parents found out about this past affair? I imagine they would be furious. If they decided to inform the police, he could still be prosecuted.

One good thing is that you did not get pregnant. As far as we know, you did not catch a sexually transmitted infection.

QI am 19 years old and I keep getting intense itching on either side of my scrotum. The skin is flaking off.

I am terrified by this. Is it a sexually transmitted infection (STI)?

ANo, I don't think it is an STI. It sounds like a fungal infection of the groin.

That is extremely common in young people, especially males. Unfortunately, the heat and sweat of the groin area provide an ideal environment for the type of fungi which live on human skin. The results are intense itching and a flaky rash.

Have a doctor check you out to confirm the diagnosis. If it is as I suspected, he will prescribe anti-fungal cream.

You should also take great care to dry the groin area thoroughly after showering or swimming. That is good advice for all young people, especially boys.

QI am worried about my penis. I have noticed that when other males pass urine, the flow goes straight out in front of them. Mine does not. It goes downwards, landing on the ground between my feet.

Also, my friends tell me that their sex fluid goes upwards, in a big curve. Mine shoots downwards.

What is going on?

ASounds like you may have hypospadias. This is a common male condition in which the urinary opening is on the underside of the penis, rather than at the end.

See a doc right away. He will tell you whether or not my diagnosis is correct. If so, he will send you to a surgical specialist.

QSometime after I first had sex with a boy, I developed a white discharge. I was really sore.

It got so bad that I went to a doctor, and she told me I had thrush. She gave me some medication which cured me.

But when I told my mother about it, she said it must have been yeast. She said that she had had it herself.

Who is right?

ABoth the doc and your mother are right. The commonest cause of discharge in young women is thrush. In Jamaica, that is frequently referred to as 'yeast'.

Rather confusingly, it has two other names - monilia and candida - but they all mean the same thing.

Thrush causes a thick, white cheesy discharge, which is accompanied by soreness and itching. Fortunately, it can be treated with vaginal medication, or orally, with fluconazole capsules.

QI am a 19-year-old guy. Recently I had sex with two girls on the same evening. I did not use any protection. Now I have been told that the first girl has clap (gonorrhoea).

Does that mean I am certain to get it? And will the second girl get it?

AI need hardly tell you that what you did was unwise. Having sex with two girls on the same night is asking for trouble, particularly if you don't use condoms.

Assuming that your information is correct, and that the first girl really does have gonorrhoea, there is a strong chance that you have caught it too. In males, the symptoms of infection are pain when passing urine, and a thick, greyish-white discharge.

If the first woman does have the infection, there is a considerable risk that you may have passed the germs to the second one.

The best thing now would be for all three of you to visit a doctor or clinic for a check-up. Until that has been done, I would recommend that you have no sex.

QMy menses are 35 days apart. I know that is a long interval. Is there any hope that I could get pregnant?

AYes, there is a good chance. But you need to have sex about the time of your ovulation. This tends to be about a fortnight before a period is due.

As your cycle is 35 days long, that would mean making love at about 21 days after the START of your last period. Good luck.

QI am female, aged 20. While on holiday in Canada, I had brief sexual contact with an older woman. Could that give me venereal disease?

AIt's possible, but in practice, lesbianism doesn't often give women venereal infections. If in doubt, get tested.

QSeveral years ago I contracted human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, presumably from sex. Fortunately, it has not re-emerged.

I see that there is a new vaccine to treat the HPV virus called Gardasil.

Do you think I should have it?

AHPV is transmitted by sexual contact. It is not widely realised that most sexually active women will catch it at some time in their lives.

Sometimes HPV persists inside the woman's genital area, later causing cervical cancer. That is why new anti-HPV vaccines have been introduced. However, the vaccines are not for treatment of the virus, as you suggest. They are intended to prevent women from becoming infected.

There are many different strains of HPV. Gardasil protects women against four of them.

Since it appears that you have already had HPV, I am a little doubtful whether taking the Gardasil jab would really help you now. But I think you should be guided by the doc who originally told you that you had the virus.

Want advice from Doc? Email questions and comments to saturdaylife@gleanerjm.com.

Ask THE DOC

When you have children, you get the full package: runny nose, nausea, diarrhoea, gripe and a slew of testy troubles that come with early childhood.

The Gleaner's mental-health specialist, Dr Orlean Brown-Earle,

has all the answers. Read her advice column in the Monday Gleaner's Positive Parenting feature.

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