[Question #11793] Genital Herpes Exposure

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12 months ago
Thank you in advance for your assistance. I had genital herpes for 8 years and barely get outbreaks. I had sex with my partner and stupidly we didn’t use a condom for 10 seconds. I don’t have signs of an outbreak but I know transmission takes place without signs of an outbreak. About 8-10 hours later he began to have flu like symptoms that progressed to the morning (extreme tiredness, chills, cold sweats, and achy body). Does his symptoms mean I transmitted HSV2? Should he expect to see lesions in the next day or so? 
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
12 months ago
10 seconds of unprotected intercourse seems a very unlikely way to get HSV 2 from you.  Are you taking daily antiviral medication to reduce the risk of transmission?  Without any sores in the genital area, I can't say if the symptoms he has are in any way related to HSV but he should keep an eye on his genitals for about 2 weeks after the encounter and if he doesn't develop any sores, HSV 2 infection is unlikely.  Has he been tested to know that he is, in fact, negative for HSV 2?

Terri
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12 months ago
Yes his test was negative. Yes I take antiviral but I missed 2 days. Is it normal to develop the flu symptoms the same day and next morning? 
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
12 months ago
That's really early for symptoms to develop.  The average time to symptom development is 5.5 days.  Best not to miss pills, if possible

Terri
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12 months ago
Are these symptoms common for a new infection if he did acquire HSV2? 
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12 months ago
Are these symptoms common for a new infection if he did acquire HSV2? 
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
12 months ago
They can be symptoms of HSV but they can be symptoms of a lot of other more common illness like other viral infections.

Terri
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12 months ago
Since I didn’t take the medicine for 2 days, did I put him at a higher risk of catching it?
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12 months ago
Last question. In another post, the other doctors stated that flu like symptoms related to a STI do not develop less than a day. Is that not the case for my situation?
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
12 months ago
The two days off medication raises the risk of transmission slightly.  And yes, flu symptoms the next day is really unlikely to be related to HSV transmission.

Terri
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