Advise please

[d_l_]

I am a 30 years old female and I have concern of contracting oral HSV1 from 3 encounters in the past. Two of them were with same individual but with a gap period of 4 years and one with another individual. All encounters included deep kissing for longer period of times.
1st and 2nd encounter (both 4 years apart) lasted on and off (10-15 mins of deep kissing and making out) for around 14-15 hours of our weekend get away.
3rd encounter with different individual lasted for 3 hours on and off deep kissing.
I am entering into a long term relationship and it does not seem easy to get a HSV test prescribed and done where I live. I want to make sure that this does not lead to infecting my boyfriend unknowingly.
I never had any cold sores that I remember of. And neither of 2 individuals in above mentioned scenarios had memory of any cold sores ever happening to them.
I live in India, if this information helps in assessing the incidences and prevalence of the disease.
Do you think these encounters might have infected me? And if it will be the primary infection, I must have had the pronounced symptoms. Is this correct?
Do I need to get tested?
Is this a high risk situation?
Thank you so much for your help.

• This topic was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by d_l_.

[Terri Warren]

The prevalence of HSV 1 in India is only 33%, lower than the US. I think the risk of you being infected is quite low, given your very limited contact with others. If you were infected as a child, we might now know that but if you’ve never had cold sores, that seems less likely

Terri

[d_l_]

Hello Terri! I am back again with a scenario that is troubling me. Recently I went to my friend’s house and three of us were sitting in the plastic pool with water from hose. No chlorine or any chemical. One of my friends has a history of herpes both cold sores and genital. What are the chances to contract herpes if she be having an active outbreak in her genitals (fluid from her blisters contaminating the water) We were all wet and sitting in the plastic pool. What is the risk of transmission through water? Thank you in advance.

[Terri Warren]

The risk is probably zero. The dilution factor of the water would prevent transmission in the scenario you describe.

Terri

[d_l_]

Thank you for guiding me. I have this situation which I am confused about. My grandmother had a high fever for 2 days and then overnight developed a scab on upper lip. There was no lesion before. The scab went away in 2-3 days. Do you think it was herpes? Is it possible that the initial lesion be so small that it got unnoticed? She is 72 years old and this is the first time that happened to her. If it is herpes, is it possible she might have gotten it from a lipstick she shared with her sister recently? We are very confused. I also looked up that what else might it be. Could it be the allergic reaction to antibiotic and sun exposure? The scab/plaque was well defined and there was no noticeable lesion before.
Thank you

[Terri Warren]

Your grandmother’s lip issue could have been an oral herpes outbreak, yes. I doubt it was an allergy to anything but I guess anything is possible.
we recommend that people don’t share lipsticks, actually, as it stays moist and could stay warm for a bit under the cover, if used right after each other.
The sun can be a trigger for HSV.
Without seeing her, it isn’t possible to even guess here, I’m afraid.

Terri

[d_l_]

Hello Terri, thank you for fixing the question posting technical glitch.
I have a question regarding possible symptoms of an oral breakout. So, yesterday morning I woke up and noticed a small blister kind of lesion between side of my mouth and chin area.
Side note- Currently, I am living in India and weather is very hot and humid and I am breaking out more than usual. And never in my life as I know or have asked from my parents, had a cold sore.
I looked at the lesion closely and it was size of pin prick, a little bigger, may be half a millimetre in diameter. And from what I saw there was clearish yellowish tinge coming out of it. I brushed my finger over it and it seemed not hard neither squishy. It was felt-able. There was no redness under it and around it. No itching, no pain, no burning. And out of curiosity, I squeezed it and it popped right away but I could not make out the contents. Seemed like it was air in it, but little blood expressed, barely noticeable as I squeezed more. There was a red colored lesion of a pin prick size left behind. At first, with magnifying glass, I saw a pit in the centre and after few hours, it was plain to touch but pin prick size redness was there. And 24 hours later now, it has turned little brown and has skin over it but there is no scab, now I don’t know if it fell off in sleep.
Do you think this could be a atypical, minor, non-noticeable out break? I got my periods the morning I noticed this blister lesion. It did not seem like a pimple as the blister clearly stood out and after I popped the area was flat, no inflammation and no hard bump left behind. No feeling of nodule or cyst underneath. It looked like milia but was not hard like it and it popped just with little pressure.
Please help me figure this out. Could this be a minor break out, atypical one? Or it is some form of acne?
Thank you in advance.

[Terri Warren]

This sounds absolutely nothing at all like a herpes outbreak, while it could be acne or some other sort of skin change.

Terri

[d_l_]

Thank you for the reply. I have 2 more questions

1.In the scenario above, even though there might be fluid in it, it did not seem like herpes?
2.And also, I have noticed a bubble kind of thing on my cheek about many times. It happens time to time but only during humid summers. There appears a bubble and its my skin color no redness, no inflammation, it is usually a single vesicle and when squeezed, it gives out clear liquid and underneath comes a normal skin, no sore, no scab. No other accompanying symptoms. Could this be herpes breakout or there is some other condition that causes bubble kind of lesion. In layman’s language it feels like its a pocket of sweat or oil. It never pains. I asked my mom, she said she also gets those kind at various locations on face. Can herpes present like this?

[Terri Warren]

1. No
2. This doesn’t sound like a herpes outbreak to me but if you have a concern about it, you should have it swab tested.

Terri

[d_l_]

Thank you for your valuable time and knowledge. I have one more concern. I think I am obsessing over this virus but I want to get this one thing out of the way as well.
Regarding a scenario, my mother developed a red patch at border of her lower lip (partially on lip and partially over the border). It had 2 red spots in it that were darker than the rest of patch. I saw it carefully, there were no blisters or vesicles and she did not report of any other symptoms. 24 hours later, I checked it again, redness was 50% gone except those two spots were darker than the rest of the patch and the skin over it was little textured. And my mom said, it sting when she touched sanitizer over it. There was seemingly horizontal cuts on there and they were very very very minute. Now almost three days later, redness is 80 percent gone and no blisters and skin looks intact. My mom said, she might had bit that area with lip but not sure. The one thing that bothers me was that why those minute cuts(2-3 cuts or cracked skin) appeared and obviously the red patch. Does this sound like herpes outbreak at all? Can herpes outbreak happens without blisters? P.S. it never blistered, no scab. Its almost 48 hours old lesion now.
Thank you.
I hope I am not overly obsessed with this.

[d_l_]

Edit- I just examined again and the skin looked like peeled ( round peeled area about half mm in size) with rough edges and redness is completely gone.( could the skin injury be because of minor bite accident that my mom says occurred when she was having an anxiety attack and bit her lip?)

[d_l_]

Edit2- The redness was about 3/4 of a centimetre. And the flaked off area about half a millimetre with flaky edges all around and skin around is little wrinkled and shrinked now.
Thank you

[Terri Warren]

This doesn’t sound like HSV to me, but it is possible, I supposed. I do think you might be focusing on this a bit too much.

Terri

[d_l_]

Hi Terri,
I agree, I am getting obsessed with this virus lately. I want your opinion on the one that happened recently. About a week ago, I noticed skin colored discoloration spots on vermillion border of my lip about 1mm size linear. It seemed like my border is being obliterated by my face skin. And about 4 days ago, I went out and it was very very harsh sun and I was in for about 30-40 mins and sweating profusely. When I returned home, I found 2 oozing spots on my lower lip, one was about at corner and another near the centre. Both spots were at a point where I noticed discoloration earlier. About 2 weeks ago, I had a lot of sun exposure too as I was vacation for 4 days and whole day in sun. Those two spots were oozing clear liquid. I did not notice any blister before or any other symptom of itching tingling or burning, neither I felt it later when they were oozing. I tried to squeeze a bit but it was just clear liquid. I did not notice any blister before, because I put a lipstick before going out few hours before. Both spots were about 1mm. You could see the oozing hole when I stretched my lips. And if I wouldn’t wipe, liquid would harden and plug the hole and the liquid would accumulate and there would be a bump beside the hole like a swelling, nothing like a blister. I let the swelling be and slept. Next morning swelling was down and there was loose skin in place of swelling. It was no more oozing. That evening (27-28 hours later the first symptom) I took bath and the skin on top became loose, it was a flap of thicker skin and not a flimsy flap as it would be on a blister. I took that skin off and under was raw skin of about 1.5 mm diameter. Next morning, there was skin over half of it. And very little spot of scab like thing in centre. It was totally healed by end of day 3. And now afterwards, the skin over it is darker and not normal looking, bit darkish and flaking.This oozing hole was bit inside lip line. Is this Herpes or sun burn? Can it present this way

[d_l_]

Edit— In addition to my above asked question. P.S. As I know and also asked my parents, I have never had cold sore in my life. Thank you

• This reply was modified 1 year, 2 months ago by d_l_.

[Terri Warren]

I can’t really say if the situation you described above was a herpes lesion or not – if you want to know if a particular skin presentation is herpes, you need to have a swab test done of the lesion at the time it is present, and it should be a PCR or NAAT swab, not a culture.

Terri

[d_l_]

Hi Terri, thank you for all your help and I am sorry if my questions are annoying. I do not have access to the antibody tests and I don’t know any other way to calm my anxious mind. I really appreciate your help.
I would like to know if cold sores can present in these ways…
1. A very small tear ( about o.75mm long) at the vermillion border? Visible when skin is stretched.
2. A single blister about the same size as mentioned above (less than a millimeter)?
3. Is it possible to miss the episode of cold sores entirely?
4. How likely is it to present in these ways in a person who never has had a cold sore before?
5. Can scab form around the mouth in lesions other than cold sore?
Thank you for providing this platform. I am immensely grateful to you.

[Terri Warren]

1. A very small tear ( about o.75mm long) at the vermillion border? Visible when skin is stretched.
That doesn’t sound herpetic to me

2. A single blister about the same size as mentioned above (less than a millimeter)?
Unlikely

3. Is it possible to miss the episode of cold sores entirely?
Yes

4. How likely is it to present in these ways in a person who never has had a cold sore before?
I think most people who are negative for both HSV 1 and 2 would notice symptoms of a new infection, but not everyone

5. Can scab form around the mouth in lesions other than cold sore?
There are other things that can cause sores around the mouth, yes – angular cheilitis, impetigo, other things, yes.

Terri

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