[Question #6089] Over 45 years ago, I contracted genital herpes.
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70 months ago
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I am 64 years old. Over 45 years ago, I contracted genital herpes from a man with an open sore on his penis he didn’t tell me about until after.
I had a terrible painful first outbreak but as far as I am aware, I’ve never had a herpes recurrence in the last forty-five years.
Shortly after contracting genital herpes I came out as a lesbian. I’ve had a succession of women lovers and partners all who are still in my life as my closest friends. We did not do protected sex as decades ago I did not know about how the herpes virus sheds and I had no visible reoccurrence.
These years involved endless times of oral sex, rubbing genitals together, fingers deeply inside both vaginas, and body fluids most definitely shared.
How is it possible in 45 years none of my lovers caught herpes from me?? (They’ve all been tested.)
I’ve recently become lovers with a man I deeply care for who although he has tested positive for herpes simplex one, does not have genital herpes.
We’ve decided on unprotected oral sex as long as he has no signs of herpes in or around his mouth. We are still unsure how to approach intercourse.
My question I’ve been unable to find an answer to after endless googling: After 45 years with this virus what are the numbers/figures/ percentages this virus is, could or does still shed? Have there been any studies done for this kind of longevity?
In gratitude,
S.
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
70 months ago
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So the first thing that I would recommend that you do is to get a type specific antibody test to see if your infection is HSV 1 or HSV 2. Both can be genital and I have a feeling you don't know which type. Is that correct?
People who have herpes as long as you have had it shed far less often (in general) than those who are more recently infected. And those who have no recurrences shed about half as much as those who do have recognized outbreaks. So over all, if you do have HSV 2 genitally, not HSV 1, I suspect that you are shedding infrequently. And if you took daily antiviral therapy you would be shedding even less.
And if you do have HSV 2, then you are probably never going to contract HSV 1 genitally.
Terri
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70 months ago
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Terri,
I was told I have genital herpes from testing the open sores themselves, forty-five years ago, but I just scheduled an appointment with my GP to do as you said and get the specific antibody test tomorrow.
I see in my more recent blood work (for other reasons), my IgA, deaminated Gliadin ABS IgA and Deaminated ABS IgG and both Tissue m Transglutaminase IgA are elevated.
** All those years ago, in 1975, did they have the technology to distinguish between the HSV 1 and HSV 2? **
Would you be able to direct me to medical articles (I am a barefoot doctor, of sorts), or more specific data on statistics of shedding HSV 2 after four plus decades taking no antiviral.
You indicate two factors which would cause me to shed less - length of time and lack of reoccurrence.
** What percentage of risk/probability of transmission does this take us to?
A 3% - 10% chance is quite different than, hypothetically, a 35%-50 % chance! **
Likely we will base our condom decision on this figure/risk.
Thanks much,
S
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70 months ago
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Terri, Got my blood work back. Yes it is HSV2 as I’ve believed all these decades. I’d much appreciate a response to my question to you sent mid week last week. Thanks so.
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
70 months ago
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OK, so you know that you are positive for HSV 2 so now you can deal with the specifics of that infection.
We know that shedding rates are lower in people who have no symptoms vs. those who do. The average is about 10% of days for people who don't have symptoms, about 20% of days for those who do. However, you also have this very long history of infection and we know that people she less, on average, the longer they are infected. I would say, as a well educated guess you are probably shedding on perhaps 5% of days? And remember that transmission and shedding are not the same thing - not every day of shedding results in transmission. There are several articles on HSV 2 shedding that you can find on PubMed. Just put Wald A HSV 2 viral shedding in the search box and you will get articles where Anna Wald is an author. She is such an authority on this topic!
Terri
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70 months ago
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Terri, Here is my last question. From my lover and his sharp mind and loving heart:
“I do wish we could say that it's a 5% chance (or even less since it's supposed to be 5% of days that you are shedding but shedding does not necessarily mean transmission). But if I'm thinking about this correctly it's 5% for each day on which we have sexual contact. If I'm doing the math right, a 5% chance on any given day adds up to a 50% chance after 13 days of sexual contact. However, the big unknown here is how often shedding results in transmission. If we figure that it's half the time then 14 becomes 28 (days). And if shedding only results in transmission 5% of the time then suddenly we're in the range of 276 days of sexual contact to get to 50%. So, the final piece we need to try to nail down to really understand the chances is the rate of transmission on days on which a person is shedding. And we should factor into that the question of does the fact that I have HSV 1 give me some protection against HSV 2?”
Deepest gratitude
S.
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
70 months ago
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So what that means is that if 100 uninfected women were having sex one on one with 100 men who had HSV 2, and they sex about twice a week when the male had no symptoms, and he was taking daily antiviral therapy,about 5 women would become infected in a year.
Terri
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