Health

Husband suffers bizarre penis infection after dinner and ‘vigorous’ sex — here’s how

By
Tracy Swartz
Published Aug. 29, 2024, 3:01 p.m. ET

He paid the ultimate p-rice.

Doctors in Lebanon say they treated a 38-year-old man who got an unusual bacterial infection in his penis after eating rice and having “vigorous intercourse” with his wife. The incident — “the first case in literature describing such an entity” — was detailed this month in the Annals of Medicine & Surgery.

A few hours after being intimate, the unidentified man suffered severe diarrhea and vomiting. Then he experienced penile swelling and redness for about a week before seeking medical help.

Bacillus cereus is a bacterium found in soil, vegetation and contaminated food such as reheated rice and vegetables.
Bacillus cereus is a bacterium found in soil, vegetation and contaminated food such as reheated rice and vegetables. Dr_Microbe – stock.adobe.com

Doctors at the American University of Beirut Medical Center examined his scabbed penis, took a swab and pointed the finger at Bacillus cereus, a bacterium found in soil, vegetation and contaminated food such as reheated rice and vegetables.

Some 63,400 cases of Bacillus cereus illness are reported in the US each year, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The condition is known as “fried rice syndrome” because if rice is left out at room temperature, it can produce toxins that cause diarrhea and vomiting. Reheating doesn’t destroy the toxins.

The condition is known as "fried rice syndrome" because if rice is left out at room temperature, it can produce toxins that cause diarrhea and vomiting.
The condition is known as “fried rice syndrome” because if rice is left out at room temperature, it can produce toxins that cause diarrhea and vomiting. nitinai2518 – stock.adobe.com

Symptoms emerge within six to 15 hours, with most people recovering within a day. This case, however, is extraordinary.

“The recovery of B. cereus from the penile infection in our patient reveals the first case of such unusual infection,” the case report read.

The father of two reported that he had eaten rice with his family a day before he started to experience symptoms. His wife said she was symptom-free.

“The patient denied having any trauma to the penis or laceration, or any accidental bite during the intercourse time,” the doctors wrote.

They suspect that he contaminated his penis with his vomit and diarrhea after sex with his wife — “likely the source of the skin infection.”

The man had to abstain from sex and masturbation and apply fusidic acid ointment, a prescription antibiotic, to his penis three times a day after washing and gently drying the area.

His condition appeared to have completely resolved at his one-month check-up.