[Question #13077] About herpes testing with a new partner

2 months ago

Hi,

I have a couple of questions regarding tests with a new partner. I might have a new girlfriend. To give you context, I knew she had prior partners whom were never positive for herpes but also not negative either. 2 years ago I got a WB (Herpes 2 negative, 1 positive) and only had oral sex afterwards (no vaginal sex). She also had smears and urine tests where they tested for STIs including herpes but woth no symptoms and I am not sure about reliability of these tests.

1. Should I be worried about possible herpes transmission from here to me?

2. Should I encourage her to get WB?

3. Barring symptoms, what are the odds of her being a carrier?

4. Should I repeat my WB?

Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner

2 months ago

If she had a herpes antibody test and it was negative for HSV , depending up on the lab that did the test, it is at least 92% accurate in picking up the antibody; some labs better. Whether you should encourage her to get the blot or not depends completely upon how worried you are about the possibility of getting this - you two need to have a talk about this. I would say if that's what you want her to do, you should probably offer to pay for it as she's already had a test that she may feel is adequate. About 1 in 4 or 5 women have HSV 2. Whether you should get another blot or not again, is strictly up to how concerned you are, but I wouldn't worry about getting HSV 2 from oral sex, no.

Terri

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2 months ago

Terri hi,

Thank you very much for the answers. The tests I was talking about was pcr of vaginal swabs. She had no symptoms but that was how they tested her somehow. She just got HSV IGG tests and they were negative. I am quite okay with these tests. I am not really concerned but I would not want to give her HSV-2. So I had a test at the beginning of 2023 (WB) and after that I only received oral sex, usually unprotected. Should I be worried about passing it to her? Just to reiterate I have not had any symptoms so far. Have you ever seen a case where HSV-2 was passed through oral sex.

All the best,

Ziya

Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner

2 months ago

I have never seen HSV 2 transmitted by only oral sex. Never. I have seen people who kissed someone with a cold sore and then that person gave them oral sex get HSV 1 both orally and genitally, yes, but that's what you're talking about here. I'm glad she was negative both by swab and antibody test.

Terri

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