[Question #8727] Oral sex question
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40 months ago
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Hello, my girlfriend is HSV2 positive and I am not, although I do have oral HSV1 from when I was a kid. She is asymptomatic, we found out her diagnosis via a blood test. I am wondering what level of risk I have from contracting oral HSV2 from performing oral sex on her? She is 37, on valtrex daily. We use condoms for intercourse and I am ok with the risk of contracting genital HSV2, but I am concerned about getting a huge outbreak of blisters on my face as I am in front of people for work constantly and this would be a problem for my professional image.
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
40 months ago
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First, what is the number associated with her blood test positive result? There are many false positives on these tests when the index value falls below 5.0
Second, if you already have oral HSV 1, if you acquired HSV 2 orally, which would be quite unlikely but possible, it would look just like a cold sore and you would treat it as such. Do you get recurrent cold sores now?
Terri
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40 months ago
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Her index was 8. She was very low risk, really, less than 10 partners in her whole life, but it's easy to get it seems. I do not get recurrent cold sores, have not had one since I was a child, probably like 10 years old my last one, I'm 42 now.
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40 months ago
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I would add that I've seen a few times in my life what I assume were HSV2 oral infections with massive outbreaks across the entire mouth and nose area. I've seen it at least 2x in college, it would be pretty unpleasant on the face of a 42 year old corporate exec :D
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
40 months ago
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I would say that you have no idea if the outbreaks that you saw were HSV 1 or HSV 2 - you cannot tell from looking what the type is. The vast, vast majority for oral infections are caused by HSV 1, not HSV 2.
Her index value of 8.0 suggests that this is likely a true positive
---Terri
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40 months ago
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Thank you.
To be clear, I also have blood tested and was positive for HSV1, so the cold sores I experienced as a child were HSV1 as I was HSV2 negative when I started dating my current girlfriend.
Can you help me understand a bit more about two things please:
1) What is the risk of transmission of GENITAL-to-ORAL from performing oral on a woman with HSV2 when they do not have an outbreak (and are asymptomatic overall)?
2) If I did contract HSV2 orally, would the first outbreak be very severe or just look like a normal, run of the mill cold sore generally speaking?
Thanks.
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40 months ago
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Hello, do I need to pay again for the add'l answer? If so, I'm happy to, thank you.
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
40 months ago
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1) What is the risk of transmission of GENITAL-to-ORAL from
performing oral on a woman with HSV2 when they do not have an outbreak
(and are asymptomatic overall)?
We don't have any data on this question. We do know that performing oral sex on someone with HSV 2 is rarely transmitted to the mouth, that is probably, though not certainly, more true in a person who already has HSV 1 orally. There may be some local immunity that reduces the risk. And if you did acquire HSV 2 orally, it would look just like a cold sore.
2) If I did contract HSV2
orally, would the first outbreak be very severe or just look like a
normal, run of the mill cold sore generally speaking?
Yes, they would look just like a cold sore.
Terri