[Question #10993] Did I just get genital Herpes?
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18 months ago
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I'm 25 and a male. About two months back I met up with a girl who's had two prior partners. We made out and were naked waist up for the most duration with a lot of deep kissing. There was a very brief period where she put her hand on my erect penis and gave the body of the penis a small lick with her tongue on the skin. This was unprotected and I washed it off immediately after.
I've asked her about std's after and she said she's clean, never tested positive for stuff, and vaccinated against HPV and gets tested regularly. I'm worried about genital herpes though. Is it too late and probable I have it and would you recommend getting tested? I have had no symptoms since the encounter.
Thank you
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
18 months ago
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The odds of your acquiring genital herpes in that was it just incredibly, incredibly low! If I were you, I wouldn't give this another thought
Terri
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17 months ago
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Thank you for your answer Dr!
The reason I was scared is that she licked it along the length of my penis that one time. Would you still likely say there's little risk of transmission and I can probably rest easy?
I've also read that genital herpes can go undetected for months or years, but in many cases breaks out/ shows up in 2 weeks to a month following the encounter. Given that I haven't had any symptoms, would you say I can rest easy following this encounter?
Also out of curiosity and trying to educate myself further on this disease, I've read that HSV1 can go to the genitals and HSV 2 can go to the mouth. Assuming someone gets HSV1 on the genitals, and then tests positive for it, does that mean they will have future breakouts in the mouth or in the genitals? Is there any way to tell this?
Thank you again for your help on the issue!
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
17 months ago
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The thing is, a single lick would almost certainly not be enough exposure to transmit HSV. Couples who have been together for years sometimes never transmit. The other thing is that yes, HSV 1 can be transmitted to the genital through oral sex, you are correct. But again, the contact that YOU had still presents a very low risk. Oral HSV 2 is very rare indeed.
It is possible that people can have either oral or genital HSV and not have outbreaks for years and then have one.
If you have not symptoms within 10 days, I think you can rest even easier than I think you should be now! I do hope that you won't do something like test for HSV antibody as there are high rates of false positives on those tests.
Terri
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17 months ago
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Hi Dr Warren.
I think I may have had a cold sore. I have two pimples at the corner of my lip. That have popped burned and crusted and are now healing over the last 3-4 days. I'm so terrified. Would you recommend getting tested to confirm? Would this mean I have to start disclosing?
It's so weird. I kissed a couple of girls, one on Jan 2nd and one on Jan29. Would a cold sore breakout show up this late? Maybe I had one earlier and dismissed it as a pimple?
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17 months ago
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Sorry, I meant two spots that look like pimples
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
16 months ago
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If the spots are not active right now, swab testing would not be useful, but if they are still crusted, you could get a swab test but be certain the swab is PCR, not culture, as PCR is more sensitive for older lesions. If you have ever had a cold sore in the past, then we know you are already positive for HSV 1.
Terri
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