I was at a friend’s house during Christmas. She had a therapeutic wrap on her right wrist that had several inches of strings trailing off of it due to wear.  She was serving everyone food and the strings came in contact with several of the dishes (they brushed against the top of the salad, for example). I’m concerned that, given that the strings were on her dominant hand,  they could have come in contact with her genitalia or genital fluid while using the bathroom and then they came in direct contact with the food. Am I at risk of getting any STD from this? What about HSV-1 or HSV-2x specifically, if the strings touched her genitalia? The reason why I am concerned is because so often I read about stories that say HSv-1 and 2 can live for hours on surfaces and it’s become a source of anxiety for me. Given the contact with my food, I am doubly concerned. 

The situation that you describe is absolutely NOT a risk for HSV.  Strings are not a method of transmission even if they did come in contact with her genitalia.  This concern that you have about the threads from her wrist bandage are not due to any real risk.---

Thank you, Terri. Re: attending holiday gatherings, I have been doing a lot of hand shaking. Sometimes I have paper cuts on my hands or my hands are chapped. Am I at risk of getting whitlow if I shake the hand of someone who has it if I have a cut on my hand or finger? What if someone else has licked their fingers and then shakes my hand which has a cut on it?

I know of zero cases of someone acquiring HSV through handshaking.  if someone has a whitlow outbreak, they generally would cover those lesions and the likelihood of you having a significant cut in your hand skin and shaking hands in the same place with a whitlow outbreak is a million to one---

Thank you, Terri. My last question  relating to indirect contact is due to  to something incredibly stupid that I am very ashamed about. I went to the local urgent care for routine STI testing. After she finished the blood draw, she threw the chuck, alcohol wipes and gloves into the trash. After the blood draw and right before I left, I realized my Fitbit was missing and I was afraid that I threw it in the trash accidentally (I used the sink and dried my hands with paper towel and put it in the trash while waiting for the nurse  after I deposited the urine capture on the counter). I reached into the trash for a few seconds (no more than 10) to grab it. I am not certain but I think I only touched the gloves and medical waste associated with my blood draw. There were probably 10 minutes between when I first entered the room and when I left so whatever was in the trash before had been there for at least 10 minutes. I washed my hands and used hand sanitizer  afterwards. I am afraid I came into contact with a stranger’s medical waste considering I reached into a medical office’s garbage can. Can I get herpes, hiv or aids from this if I touched blood/fluid or gauze that has been exposed to any of those diseases ? I have two small paper cuts on my left hand and none on my right hand (I think I used my right hand but I’m not sure). I totally wasn’t thinking when I did this as I’m going through a a lot and I can’t believe how incredibly stupid I was. 

The hand washing and hand sanitizer would have taken care of any risk here.  Good that you did it, but the risk even without is very low indeed that you would have contracted something doing this.---