A 38-year-old man sought help from urologists after suffering redness, swelling and scabbing on his penis, which had persisted for the best part of a week.
Further investigations revealed that the troubling symptoms had begun soon after he’d suffered a bout of severe diarrhea and vomiting.
The doctors, at the American University of Beirut Medical Center in Lebanon, where he was treated, took a swab of the man’s penis to test for infection.
They found evidence of the bacteria bacillus cereus, which is usually found in rice that’s been left out at room temperature for too long and can cause sickness and stomach upsets if eaten.
The doctors concluded that the man’s unusual genital infection had been caused by an episode of diarrhea and vomiting that occured almost immediately after ‘vigorous sex’ with his wife.
The intimate act can increase the risk of bacteria permeating the skin due to the change in blood vessels.
The bacteria was said to have made direct contact with the patient’s groin.
The doctors remarked that it was ‘unusual’ to see bacillus cereus in the skin, let alone the genitals.
This was the ‘first case in literature’ of the food poisoning in the penis.
Reference:
Nasrallah, Oussama G. MDa; Mahdi, Jana H.d; Araj, George F. PhDb; El Sayegh, Noura MDb; El Zakhem, Aline MDc; Bachir, Bassel G. MDa (2024) “Bacillus cereus infection of the penis: an unusual infection”. Annals of Medicine & Surgery 86 (9), 5600-5603. Full text (warning, contains photos)
That is the… thrust of the argument, yes. They emphasise “vigorous sex” in the paper and that can lead to micro-tears and abrasions on the genitals which would greatly increase your chance of getting an infection afterwards. Skin bacteria (staph or strep) would be most likely (I have eczema and have had infections through the breaks in my skin, so I now have a prescription emollient that is antibacterial) but even if you soiled your genitals and got an infection it would usually be gut bacteria. He’s just been hit by a series of unlucky events.