[Question #8929] Transmission after 24 years
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38 months ago
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Hi! I am hoping to have a doctor answer this who is very familiar with HSV2 shedding. I am getting married in a few months. I have had HSV2 since I was 22 and now I am 47. I am nervous about passing it to my soon to be husband. I maybe get 1 outbreak a year which is very minor. I have not told him. Do you shed less often the longer you have the virus so then less likely to pass it? I have never taken anything for this because my symptoms were minor. What are my chances of passing this to him unprotected ? Of course, never during an outbreak. Is there anything natural I can take for shedding? Do you see a need for me to start taking an antiviral? I see there are side effects to antivirals that make me uncomfortable. I’m very worried of the stigma and this is stealing my excitement I should have for marriage. My last husband who I was married to for 4 years never got it and he was hav2 negative before we were married.
Thank you
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
38 months ago
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Statistically, people shed less the longer they are infected. That is generally true, yes. People who have outbreaks of herpes, on average, shed virus on about 20 out of `100 days.
I am not aware of anything "natural" that you can take to reduce viral shedding that has been evaluated by a good clinical trial, no.
So are you saying that you former husband tested negative for HSV 2 or didn't develop symptoms of HSV 2 - very different things.
Taking daily antiviral medicine like valacyclovir, which is exceedingly safe, reduces transmission by almost half.
I think you know that keeping this a secret could have very negative consequences if you transmit this virus to him. Perhaps you will reconsider? This is a heavy burden to bear, as you are feeling right now. I'm sorry this is stealing the excitement of your upcoming marriage, that has to be difficult for you.
Terri Warren, NP
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38 months ago
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My x-husband was tested before we were married with a negative test. He also never developed it during our marriage.
Do you know that rate of shedding for someone who has had it this long per year? I’m sure a person who has had it 25 years sheds less than some who has has had it for 10 years? I also heard that valacyclovoir causes major stomach upset?. I don’t think it would cause major consequences since he loves me. I don’t want to take a drugs for the rest of my life if I get one minor outbreak a year.
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
38 months ago
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We know in general that people shed less, the longer they are infected and the longer they don't have symptoms, but people vary greatly in this respect so I'm afraid there are no specific data on this.
Generally, people have very few side effects with the antiviral medicines - the most common are headaches and nausea but most people get over that after a few weeks on suppression.
It isn't all about outbreaks - we now believe it's more about viral shedding and transmission than outbreaks as we know that people give off virus in between outbreaks.
But certainly your call. You know him best.
Terri
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37 months ago
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Hello!
Back in 2015. I had a IgM IFA test taken for HSV2 and it said there was no dectection, can you tell me why that is?.
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
37 months ago
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IgM is a type of antibody and it isn't always present, like IgG - it comes and go, so if there was a day when it wasn't present and you had your blood drawn on that day, it just wasn't there. IgM testing is definitely no longer recommended, also.
Terri
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