[Question #12794] HSV2 exposure question for Drs. HHH and/or EH

5 months ago

I had a date yesterday where there was some physical contact, and learnt later that the girl has a h/o genital HSV2 - although no current active breakout. The extent of the physical contact was as follows:

1. Lots of kissing and making out

2. Fingering her for around 10-15 min. Unsure if I touched my genitals with the same hand after that.

3. She giving oral sex for about 15-30 secs before we stopped.

My questions are-

1. Is there any risk of me getting affected with HSV2 - either oral or genital, given this exposure?

2. How many days should pass without symptoms that i can be confident of not being affected?

3. Any pre-emptive medication(to reduce any possible risk while exposure is still recent) that would be recommended?

4. Would you advise any testing and at what point if so?

Thanks.

Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner

5 months ago

None of that activity puts you at risk of acquiring HSV 2 infection. We don't consider hands a method of transmission

You can wait as many days as you like, but this is not a risky experience as stated above

There is no reason to take any testing

And there is no medication that would be useful to you at this point, no.

Terri

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5 months ago

Thank you for your response Terri, that is very reassuring to hear.

I have just one follow-up question. With all the tests available, which is the panel of tests do you recommend for a comprehensive but reliable evaluation of sexual health/std status, just in general?

Thanks.

Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner

5 months ago

gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, HIV, hepatitis (depending upon your vaccination status. Herpes is a tough one. LabCorp has a new better herpes antibody test so if you are going to test for HSV, use LabCorp. Or you could go directly to the western blot, the gold standard.d

Terri

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5 months ago

Thank you for your response, few questions that came to mind.

1. the western blot is for HSV2, would that be correct?

2. I see a lot of labs give out HSV1 and HSV2 testing together. Do you recommend testing for HSV1 at all?

3. Same question for oral HSV2, is testing recommended?

4. Is labcorp the one you would suggest or any particular labs that you routinely refer patients for testing? Basically I was wondering the best place to go to for this testing without going through primary care.

Appreciate you sharing your experience and knowledge, thank you.

Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner

5 months ago

The western blot looks for both HSV 1 and HSV2.

About half the population has HSV 1, so optional

Testing for HSV 2 is not recommended as routine because of the high rate of false positives on the routine IgG - this does not apply to the western blot.

The LabCorp test is a good one - it will give you a value of reactive or non-reactive. You could certainly start there.

Terri

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