I am a gay male. I was diagnosed with HSV2-G five weeks ago. I had an outbreak on the sides of my penis. I have been taking the Valtrex generic everyday since.  All of my sores healed and cleared up completely about three weeks ago.

This past weekend I made out with another guy for a very long time. His whiskers made my face raw from kissing so much. Is there a chance I could have transmitted HSV2 to him since we were creating so much friction with our facial skin? I do not have HSV2-Oral.

He also briefly sucked on my penis. Probably for about 2 minutes. What are the chances that I transmitted HSV2 to him since I am fairly newly diagnosed and our kissing created so much friction on our faces?

Thank you!  

So shall I assume that you had a positive swab test for HSV 2 from one of the penile lesions? 

The contact with the making out is NOT a risk for transmission - he would need to have had contact with your penis to get your HSV 2. 

The person who sucked on your penis is at a small risk of acquiring this orally.  But 2 minutes should not have presented much risk.  The only thing is that someone with brand new infection is the most contagious during the first six months of having herpes.  So keep that in mind.  You can receive oral sex with a condom on and you can be top with a condom on with anal intercourse and you can give oral sex, assuming your don't have HSV 1 or 2 orally, without concern for transmission.  Let me know what other questions you have, OK?

Terri

This is a slight variation of an often asked question.... So I am gay, I have HSV2-G. I am HIV negative and I take Valtrex generic daily. I've seen mentioned that men are more at risk of getting HSV2-oral than women are... and more so with gay men. So as a gay man, and one who has HSV2-G... am I likely to transmit to a partner who often likes to perform oral sex on me on my penis to the point of orgasm?  Also, why are gay men more susceptible? Or is that gay men who are HIV positive? 

Lastly, what are the risks of someone rimming me if I have HSV2-G and the initial outbreak was on my penis? 

Thank you!  

I have not seen any research that suggests that the mouth of a male, or a gay male, is more susceptible to HSV 2 than the mouth of a woman and I'm not clear why that would be the case.  if you would like to share that source with me, I'll check it out for validity.  I can't think of a biological reason why that would be the case.  I know that oral HSV 2 has been studied in gay men and in HIV-positive gay men, but not as being more prevalent than in straight men or women or gay women. 

HSV 2 oral infection happens, no doubt about it, but is far less common than genital HSV 2 as HSV 2 has what we call a site preference for the genital area - we don't know why. 

The anus is innervated by the same group of nerves that innervate the penis and genital area.  The main sites of viral shedding in men are the penis and anus, but the anus is less likely to shed than the shaft of the penis.  About 1/4 of the time when a person is having a genital outbreak, they will also be shedding virus from the anal area. 

I hope this is helpful.  You've got one more post for further questions.

Terri

Following up with last question in this series..... As a gay male with HSV2-G and having had my initial outbreak on the shaft of my penis... It seems that the only way I could potentially transmit the virus to a partner is through anal intercourse. But the risk is low when using a condom and antiviral. Is that correct? What about semen if that's ingested by a partner giving me oral sex? 

We don't believe that semen is a good carrier of virus but we can't say there is never virus in semen.  Whether ingesting semen is a means of transmission we don't know.

Yes, you could potentially be infectious both top and bottom with anal intercourse.  But yes, with a condom, the risk is very low and with antiviral therapy, even lower. 

There is also a small chance that if someone gave you oral sex they could get HSV 2 on their mouth. 

Terri