There is so much misinformation on this thread it's astounding
Antibiotics do NOTHING to prevent viruses, full stop. In fact they actually make you more susceptible to getting all sorts of infections whilst on them as they deplete the 'good' bacteria in our guts (their mission is usually "kill ALL bacteria", a properly selective antibiotic which would ONLY kill specific bacteria would be the holy grail but has never been synthesized without serious side effects). The gut is 90% of our immune system, and we NEED these good bacteria as they 'compete' with all sorts of pathogens and stop them taking hold. They are our natural immune system. This is the reason we should only take antibiotics if we really need them - for a BACTERIAL infection only which is causing real issues for the body (not a small skin boil for example).
Using one a day antibiotic for a week before seeing a WG is an incredibly daft thing to do, in general because of resistance building (not just a possibility, almost a certainty) and also because doing so will likely weaken your defences against VIRAL infections. And the viral infections are those most serious for punters (although gonorrhea which is bacterial is fast becoming seriously difficult to treat now because of resistance). Although it would offer
some protection against bacteria taking hold, by a similar mechanism another poster has explained.
I think the problem here is that people do not realise which infections are VIRAL and which are BACTERIAL.
VIRAL = HIV, Hep C, Genital Herpes (and oral herpes, which funnily enough can "cross over" ie herpes type 1 oral can infect the genitals and herpes type 2 genital the other way round although rare)
BACTERIAL = Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, NSU.
Generally, bacterial infections can be 'cured' with antibiotics (although gonorrhea is terribly resistant to treatment nowadays).
Viral infections - well for the purpose of this discussion, sexually transmitted viral infections - once "set up" in your body, they do not leave your body. They hide until your immune system is compromised in any way and then come up again, or in the case of HIV and Hep C, they systematically try to cause damage to your immune system.
Neither type of infection is ideal obviously! There is much misinformation and hysteria surrounding STIs.
HIV and Hep C - many factors determine how easily it can be transmitted, but as the charming one above posted, it has a low transmission rate. However not a gamble most want to take because of it's life-limiting potential and stigma. HIV and OWO - all the studies and literature have shown that it is theoretically possible to contract HIV from either giving or receiving oral sex but there have thus far been no documented cases, because most people have oral sex along with other forms like vaginal or anal. HIV is not a very hardy virus - it requires optimal conditions and a good and easy "way in" if you like, so it unlikely although possible. Also HIV is not the death sentence it once was. However I'm sure no-one wants it other than the those "bug-chasers".
Herpes - EXTREMELY common. Most of you have had cold sores, no? Well a significant percentage of adults also have genital herpes lurking in the nerves near their genitals. However most people's immune systems do enough to keep it at bay, although some have repeated outbreaks of blisters. It is infectious mostly at the time the blisters are "active" so can usually be seen. Can easily be transmitted by OWO from someone with a cold sore, can also be transmitted through just skin contact with the blisters, so a condom isn't really protection. Most people are pretty ignorant about herpes so it may be difficult to explain to the wife! It can
theoretically lie dormant for years and years though so I guess it can be explained away, but if you give her it I suppose it will arouse suspicions. Life-long (ie you never get rid of it til you die, but normal immunocompetent person's own body will keep it at bay). but not life threatening just annoying.
The other culprits - Bacterial - much easier to catch! There is something like a 50% transmission rate for a female having one unprotected vaginal sex episode with an infected male. I think the male's risk is lower. Gonorrhea is definitely possible to catch in the throat - and transmit from throat to penis, although probably a relatively low risk for the male rather than the "receiving throat".
Bacteria have been the enemy of humans since the year dot! And whilst it seemed that the advent of antibiotics made bacteria some insignificant easily curable malady rather than the life threatening thing of the past (google medieval syphilis
) , it seems that we thought wrong. Bacteria are very very good at mutating and very clever at becoming resistant to antibiotics - if you have ever worked in a lab environment with bacteria you will know what I mean. Scientists are working overtime to find a new "class" of antibiotics because we have not been successful in making a new class for over 20 years, and the bacteria are winning. The best defence against bacteria is being a healthy person with a robust immune system, and NOT taking antibiotics unless you actually have a confirmed bacterial infection which is "taking over" , ie your body is not successful at fighting off itself.
It's all risk versus reward though. As everything in life is. Personally I would think very carefully if the reward (in my case cause I am a 'retired' WG : financial) is worth the possible risks of infection. If I was a punter I would weigh up whether the reward (more pleasure) was worth the possible risks of infection. Neither is right or wrong, it's an individual choice.
This issue needs education, not the hysteria and misinformation which often accompanies such things.
