[Question #6380] Any reason for concern?

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68 months ago
I've been seeing a woman for a few weeks. Long story short Friday night I came over and we nearly had sex but I did not have a condom so I decided to hold off. I at that time did ask her about her history and when was the last time she had been tested. She had not had sex in over a year and said she had been tested 3 months ago. She did not test positive for anything, I don't know to the extent what she was tested for. I had not had sex in over a year myself, having had a herpes scare after being exposed to HSV-2 which I learned after having unprotected sex. We did have sex yesterday and a condom was used. I'm not overly concerned but would you consider this to be low risk? Even if she unknowingly had HSV-2 would chances of transmission be pretty low?
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
68 months ago
I would say this is low risk, yes.  Condoms reduce transmission from females to males by an average of 65%.  If this is going to be a repeat experience, perhaps you should both be tested so you can feel more comfortable with this situation?  You've clearly had a scare in the past and it worries you.  While she was tested for STD's three months ago, it may not have included herpes antibody testing.  it's definitely worth her checking on that to see for sure.

Terri
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