herpes incubation period

[am12]

Hi Terri
I am an Indian male. I was having unprotected sex with sex worker due to condom break before 175 days from now. She started orally with a condom and i put another condom for vaginal but at last both were break and technically exposed to both oral and vaginal fluid as oral fluid sandwiched between condoms. Just after incident i wash my genitial with soap and apply two times alcohol base hand sanitizer even on penis tip. Sex worker was tested a day after with -ve HIV(P24 & antibody) and +ve HSV1&2 combine test(IGG 29.3 & IGM 1.36). After 5 days, i was tested for HIV AND HSV with -ve HIV(AG & AB) and HSV IGG -ve but +ve IGM 1.26. This test clear that i naver ever had HSV.
After six hrs from incident i started Truvada for 28 days. Now or at 175 days from exposure, i have a round rash with tiny dots like pimple on my penis shaft from four days this is very itchy also itching in near by area, and headache from two days and nausea from one day.
Other finding
2 week -veHIV COMBO TEST AG AB POST PEP
6 WEEK -VE HIV COMBO TEST AG AB POST PEP
12 WEEK -VE HIV COMBO TEST AG AB POST PEP
3 MONTHS -VE HIV COMBO TEST AG AB POST PEP
175 DAYS -VE HIV COMBO TEST AG AB FROM EXPOSURE
5 MONTHS HCV SYPHILIS -VE (HVB IMUNE)
My question
1 Is my symptoms look like herpes
2 Can Truvada raise incubation period of HSV or primary infection may go unnoticed due to truvada
3 May herpes has incubation period more than 5 months
Pls Advice

[Terri Warren]

To me, your symptoms do not sound like herpes to me. Most people who get herpes do not describe it as tiny red dots that itch. They describe it as a group of blisters that are tender. Yes, they can itch. But it would also not be possible to have a true first infection outbreak 175 days later. We don’t honestly know how much if any impact Truvada would have on HSV. It is possible there could be some impact, but if you are asking if taking Truvada for 28 days would postpone herpes antibody development for 175 days, I would say no.

I think that you have escaped acquiring HIV and HSV in this encounter. First of all, your risk was not high. You used a condom for a lot of the contact, even though it eventually broke. So that’s a good thing. You had the person tested and she was HIV negative. Who knows what to make of her combined herpes test, but not a huge surprise that a sex worker would be positive for HSV.

Your negative tests for herpes and HIV since should be reliable and I think it is time for you to relax about this exposure. It may be hard to let go of this concern over time; you’ll need to work on it.

I would encourage you to have someone look at the rash, just to be sure.

Terri

[am12]

Hi Terri
You say that Your negative tests for herpes and HIV since should be reliable but HSV test done on 5th day from exposure. And now is it right time to go for igg test if negative will rule out HSV. And soap washing or hand sanitizers can work to reduce HSV infection.

[am12]

Also i am asking that can truvada impact on first episode and make it asymtomatic

[Terri Warren]

Sorry, I misunderstood the timing of the HSV test. A final HSV test that occurs 4 month or more after the contact would be adequate. If I am reading this correctly, you are five months out so now should be adequate. We don’t know if soap and/or hand washing does anything to reduce the risk of herpes or not. My opinion is that it certainly does’t hurt. This study has not been done.

Again, we know nothing about how Truvada would impact HSV infection possibilities OR the likelihood of a symptomatic presentation vs. asymptomatic infection. Sorry I can’t help you more with that question.

Terri

[Author]

Posts