Could I have caught herpes from this instance of sharing food?

[funkywalrus2]

I have health anxiety and anxiety around catching herpes. I recently decided (last Monday) to not let fear rule my life anymore and to stop being afraid of sharing food. That day, I shared a meal with a friend and I intentionally did not closely scrutinize their face and lips beforehand.

We shared 3 dishes and used different utensils. One dish was french fries with a special chili powder. We each used our own pair of chop sticks to grab fries from the single dish and dip them into the chili powder before eating them. I would dip my fry into the chili powder right after they dipped their fry and, in some cases, their chopsticks touched the powder.

The other dish we shared was a grilled fish. Early on in the meal, they used their chopsticks to take some chunks out of the fish. A few minutes later, I finished the entire fish (including eating the portions they had stuck their chopsticks into earlier).

After this all had already occurred, I gave into my anxiety and scrutinized their lips and saw what might have been a sign of oral herpes by their bottom lip. It might also, admittedly, have been acne or something else. It was like an area of redness/darkness right below this part of the lip and maybe extending onto the lip. It did not look like a scab or a blister, but I worry it might have been a blister about to form.

Anyway… ever since this time, for a whole week, I have been freaking out and worried I contracted herpes, even though I have no symptoms and I don’t 100% know what I saw was a sign of herpes on my friend. My question is, in the worst case scenario (it WAS herpes on my friend), what is the likelihood of me contracting it through this meal?

Thank you for your help!

[Terri Warren]

I think Avis was HSV one on the lip of your friend, the risk of you acquiring through sharing food is astronomically low.

Terri

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