Hello again! I have previously posted a couple questions before about cold sore exposures, as I'm quite concerned about herpes. 

But this recent exposure has me really concerned and I feel like I definitely got it now. 

Unfortunately I made out with a girl in a night club for around 5-10 minutes today. The contact was full on including the tongue, lips, etc and it lasted for a while. At the end of it, she casually mentions she got a cold sore "yesterday" but she took the medicine for it and it is much better "today". I was shocked as I did not notice it. Then I looked for it and clearly saw it. A red bump on her lip .She says it is much better today so she thought it is not transmissible.

I guess what's done is done. So I just have a couple questions,

1) I'm assuming this is a high risk encounter as I had direct contact with the sore on the lip with my lip/mouth. Is the risk of transmission 100% here? Or does the "medicine" she took mean that the risk is reduced slightly? I'm unsure which medicine she meant. I think I remember her mentioning acyclovir.

2) If I did indeed get HSV1 from this encounter, will I definitely get a sign or symptoms in the next 2 weeks? Or is there a chance I won't notice anything at all since I might be asymptomatic? I'm hoping I'm one of the 70% that is asymptomatic to cold sores and won't notice anything... is that realistic to hope for?

1) I'm assuming this is a high risk encounter as I had direct contact with the sore on the lip with my lip/mouth. Is the risk of transmission 100% here? Or does the "medicine" she took mean that the risk is reduced slightly? I'm unsure which medicine she meant. I think I remember her mentioning acyclovir.

The medicine that she took the prior should certainly help reduce the risk of transmission but it is not a certainty.

2) If I did indeed get HSV1 from this encounter, will I definitely get a sign or symptoms in the next 2 weeks? Or is there a chance I won't notice anything at all since I might be asymptomatic? I'm hoping I'm one of the 70% that is asymptomatic to cold sores and won't notice anything... is that realistic to hope for?

If you know for sure that you were HSV 1 negative prior to this encounter, and you acquired HSV 1, which is a reasonable possibility, and you are checking very carefully, I think you would demonstrate symptoms.  The time frame on that is 2-10 days.  While 70% of those who test positive for HSV 1 accurately do not report symptoms of herpes,  they often miss symptoms or attribute symptoms that they do have to something else.  Often oral herpes show up inside the nose, and most people wouldn't think that is cold sores, right?    If you develop any concerning symptoms, I would recommend that you get a swab test from that symptom, and the swab should be PCR, not culture. The same is true for the genital location.  Simply observe for symptoms and have anything that you note swab tested.

It is not a certainty that you've acquired HSV 1 but there is definitely a possibility that you did.

Terri

Thank you so much for the clarification! I have a few follow up questions,

1) Since both my lips and genitals came into contact with her mouth; Is it reasonable to assume that if I were to show symptoms, it would only appear on either my lips or my genitals, and not both places at once? What are the chances that I would get oral herpes and genital herpes at the same time due to this encounter?I really hope that won't be the case!

2) Do you have any statistics on how many symptomatic people actually get recurrences in the case of oral HSV1 and genital HSV1? Is it reasonable to hope that I would only get one primary outbreak, and then it would taper off pretty quickly?

3) Would you recommend I go to my doctor right now and get valtrex or other medication to reduce my chances of getting a primary outbreak before the symptoms show up?

4) When you mentioned that 70% of people might not realize they have herpes because they misattribute the symptoms to something else, are you just mentioning cases of people experiencing their primary outbreak? Or are 70% of people not realizing it's herpes even with repeated outbreaks and recurrences because the symptoms are not typical?

Thank you!

1) Since both my lips and genitals came into contact with her mouth; Is it reasonable to assume that if I were to show symptoms, it would only appear on either my lips or my genitals, and not both places at once? What are the chances that I would get oral herpes and genital herpes at the same time due to this encounter?I really hope that won't be the case!

Some people who get infected in this way have lesions in both locations, others at only one.

2) Do you have any statistics on how many symptomatic people actually get recurrences in the case of oral HSV1 and genital HSV1? Is it reasonable to hope that I would only get one primary outbreak, and then it would taper off pretty quickly?

HSV 1 genital infection rarely recurs - about once every other year after the first infection and some don't recur at all.  Oral HSV 1 recurs quite a lot more.

3) Would you recommend I go to my doctor right now and get valtrex or other medication to reduce my chances of getting a primary outbreak before the symptoms show up?

I doubt they would prescribe it in that way nor do I think at this point it would be very helpful.

4) When you mentioned that 70% of people might not realize they have herpes because they misattribute the symptoms to something else, are you just mentioning cases of people experiencing their primary outbreak? Or are 70% of people not realizing it's herpes even with repeated outbreaks and recurrences because the symptoms are not typical?

I'm not sure about that but I suspect the later.  I think most people with HSV really do have symptoms

You could certainly be having symptoms of a recurrence from 2018.  An antibody test could tell you if this was an old or new infection.

Terri