[Question #11021] Genital herpes
17 months ago
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Hello Doctors, i am here with a concern for genital herpes. Monday February 12th i had a protected encounter with a SW. Now i understand that lesions dont have to be present for transmission to occur. I didnt see any lesions. The whole act was protected both oral and vaginal. Its been almost 16 days since the enciunter and i have not felt any blister or sores in my genital area but i had read that it can take weeks to years to have your first outbreak. The only thing i did notive was what seemed to be a small pimple. It doean hurt or anything. Its right behind my scrotum inbetween my legs. I have had a bit of itch on the fold of my buttocks and in my pubic area but cant see a rash.
My question here is what are the chances that i am safe as i have not had any outbreak so far? Ive also read that the average outbreak is 4 days with a range of 2 to 12 days but it can take longer.
Second question is what percentage of people dont have an initial outbreak within the 12 days?
When can i take a conclusive blood test if i dont have sores or blisters present?
Last year febraury i had a full sti panel including herpes and all came back negative.
17 months ago
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What are the odds of contracting herpes female to male with protection?
17 months ago
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Also where would the initial outbreak be if there was one?
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
17 months ago
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Given a single encounter that was protected for both oral sex and intercourse, the risk of you becoming infected with either HSV 1 or HSV 2 is incredibly small. Plus you are 16 days out and if you were going to develop HSV symptoms, I think you would have done so by now. I would discourage testing for HSV 2 because of the high rate of false positives and because the HSV 1 test misses 30% of HSV 1 infections. What do you think?
Terri
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17 months ago
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Thank you for your reply. The reality is that i have a partner and i am truly scared to give her something she doesnt deserve because of my stupid decisions. I just want to be sure that i dont give her anything. Lately ive been having a bit of a weird sensation around the anus area, which doesnt make sense as that wouldnt be the point of entry during female to male intercourse. And heard that the first outbreak is in the area that came in contact which would have been my penis or maybe thighs. I am very confused right now. I dont know why i did what i did. I just dont want her to catch anything because of me and i dont when i can be sure i didnt catch anything including herpes.
17 months ago
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Would it be possible that my first outbreak is in the anus even though it wasnt the entry point? It was penile to vaginal intercourse
17 months ago
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Is it true that herpes needs micro abrasion to enter the body and infect the person?
17 months ago
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Would fordyce spots make you more susceptible to herpes? I apologize for all the questions
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
17 months ago
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Fordyce spots are normal and would not increase the risk of acquiring HSV. Herpes likely needs some break in the tissue to enter, but the skin of the penis is thin enough that it could enter without a break in the skin. You are correct that normally, the first outbreak of HSV after a new infection occurs where the infection takes place. I doubt that the anal sensations that you are experiencing is a primary herpes outbreak.
Again, I think your risk of acquiring HSV is incredibly low. I rarely say never. The way to know for sure if you have herpes (and it wouldn't say that you acquired it from this encounter) would be to do an antibody test, the western blot is the best one, 12 weeks from a concerning sexual encounter. But you may already have either HSV 1 or 2 or both and now know it. You could get a baseline IgG test for herpes and see where you stand and repeat it again in 12 weeks, looking for a change.
You are asking for certainty that I can't provide for you with a 100% guarantee. But I think the risk is miniscule!
Terri
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