Entire family contracts STD from a Shanghai hotel
Entire family contracts STD from a Shanghai hotel
A family's trip to Shanghai turned into an ordeal after they became infected with genital warts following a stay in a luxury hotel, reported Nanyang Siang Pau.
The man identified as Lee had brought his wife, their three-year-old son, sister and parents for a family trip in early June.
He had checked them into an expensive suite with a clean bathtub.
But three weeks after the trip, Lee's son started feeling itchy in the groin area and was covered in warts.
The rest of the family also developed similar symptoms around their genital areas and went for treatment at the hospital, where they were diagnosed with human papillomavirus (HPV).
A dermatologist said the Lee family had likely contracted the virus at the hotel through the bathtub and the bed sheet, which might have had traces of the bodily fluids of an infected person.
The virus can take from three weeks to eight months to develop and is hard to get rid of with general detergents or chemical steriliser.
What Are Genital Warts?
Genital warts are a very common sexually transmissible infection (STI) caused by some types of the human papilloma virus (HPV). Genital warts are most common in people aged 18-28 years. There are more than 200 types of HPV that can infect human skin. About 40 of these infect the skin of the genital area, e.g. the penis, vagina, or anus.
| I had a very bad experience at the hotel I was staying in last night. Everything was fine when I checked in. The desk clerk was professionally nice, and the general area of the lobby was clean and kept. Even walking into the room, it seemed fine. The dresser tops were clean, carpet was vacuumed and there were fresh towels (seemingly) in the restroom. But when I was prepared for bed, I climbed into the sheets. After a few minutes of shuffling to find a comfortable spot, I felt something hard sticking the sheets together. It was dried semen. I freaked out, and immediately complained to the manager. I was given a fresh room where the manager checked the sheets herself, and a full refund, but still, it was completely disgusting! - Kristy, Best Resort Asia's reader's contribution |
These infections can be visible or sub-clinical:
• visible warts: warts which are easy to see
• sub-clinical infection: you cannot see warts on your skin, but the HPV could be found inside the skin cell using special tests that look for HPV DNA.
Although rare, you can technically contract scabies, pubic lice and to a lesser extent HPV from hotel bed sheets. Always asked for sheets to be changed if you suspect that the sheets are less than clean. There are hotels which changes their sheets once a week and not between guests.
While an overwhelming number of hotel beds are changed between guests, there’s always a chance your sheets will be recycled
Other related stories: Marriott Rewards - Couple sues Marriott for blood-stained bed sheets
( 1 Vote )
Comments (0)