[Question #11716] Herpes concerns. How worried should I be if I have it?
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12 months ago
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Hi Doctors!
I'm a 27 yo Male. I've previously had two encounters off girls on dating apps where I've ended up making out with them for a couple of hours and kissed their necks and breasts, but most action was above the neck. There was also some dry humping.
Both these encounters were 6 months ago and I didn't really know STDs could spread from what I'd done so I haven't gotten myself tested barring an oral HPV test since I was unvaccinated. Both girls have also told me they were clean, but I'm really not sure if they tested for herpes. I haven't really had any symptoms as such.
I figured the bacterial stuff would be okay(?) since there's antibiotics, but the prospect of Herpes lifelong really scares me, as I'm from a very conservative country where this'll be stigmatized.
I've read up on it and it seems very widespread. My question is this - I'm fairly sure on both occasions neither of them had a cold sore but apparently there's asymptomatic shedding that there's really nothing you can do about. What are the odds of this happening in a person? Do infected people shed asymptomatically fairly often and there's a good chance I'm infected? Or is it fairly rare and I'm probably okay?
I was considering getting a full panel STD test after learning kisses can spread stds but heard the HSV blood test gives false positives and held back because of my anxiety. Was hoping you could educate me a little on the issue.
Thank you for reading this, and more so, thank you for everything you do on this forum. It's incredible to feel enabled to ask questions here that are very difficult to take elsewhere!!!
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12 months ago
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Sorry just FYI my encounters with these partners were sort of one off, basically spending an afternoon making out with them. I haven't had more than one meeting with them where we kissed.
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
12 months ago
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Good morning, I don't know what country you are from, but in most areas around the world, the cold sore virus, HSV 1, is very common indeed. For example, in the US about half the population between 14 and 49 has HSV 1. You can look up how common it is in your country by Googling "HSV 1 prevalance in XXXXX" and it will tell you. My point is, you could have had this before the kissing. If you did not have it already, it seems likely that if you had acquired it, you would have had symptoms like a cold sore. Have you ever had a cold sore in the past? That's HSV 1.
Yes, people can shed the virus without any symptoms. The frequency of this happening depends upon how often people get cold sores - people who get them often shed more.
False positives for HSV 1 are less common than false positives for HSV 2 but they do happen.
Terri
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12 months ago
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Hi Dr Warren!
Thanks for your response. It sounds like if I were to acquire it should have shown up as a preliminary cold sore?
I did have a breakout around 2 months after my possible exposure where I had 3-4 of whiteheads clustered near the corner of my lip but I dismissed it as acne/folliculitis. No fever or anything. They lasted around 2-3 days. Does this sound like an initial outbreak?
Do you think if I get a HSV1 test now I can expect reasonable accuracy? Are there any other stds you'd recommend getting tested for?
I'm honestly hoping I don't have it due to the stigma around STDs in my country. It's common and sounds innocuous enough and that's reassuring. But I've read that HSV1 is commonly associated with alzheimers and dementia and that's terrifying. Have you seen such a correlation personally?
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
12 months ago
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Please remember that HSV 1 most often is NOT a sexually transmitted infection. The research into the relationship between HSV 1 and dementia is ongoing at this point.
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The timing is fine now to test for HSV 1. The whiteheads are concerning but not certain to be HSV. I don't recommend testing for any STI's, no
Terri