Herpetic Whitlow and Transmission Question

[whitlonerves]

Hi Terri,

I have had hsv2 herpetic whitlow for 5 years which is confined to the tip of my right middle finger. There is no way to know for sure if I have it genitally, but I think I caught it by fingering someone with cracked cuticles. I’ve only ever had outbreaks on that finger.

My partner is aware of my situation and I wear gloves on my right hand whenever we are intimate, even without an active ob.

Recently I started feeling wrist pain on my left hand, shooting down my to left index finger. Sometimes I feel nerve pain similar to this on my right hand when I’m about to have an on. I’m in the middle of moving so I assumed this is just tendon pain from physical use. I also noticed the surface of my fingers just above the cuticles are red and inflamed, but I assumed this was from digging credit cards out of my wallet.

I fingered my partner with my left hand, uncovered. I used both my middle and index fingers. I’m extremely worried that I just did something irresponsible and potentially passed this virus to my partner. I will never forgive myself if I did this.

If I shine a light up to the skin on my left index finger I see a faint honeycomb structure above the cuticle. I’m concerned that the nerve pain shooting down my index finger was prodrome symptoms, and that this was my first herpes outbreak on my left hand…

my q’s:
– How likely is it be to get whitlow on the hand that is not where the established infection is after 4+ years?

– If this was new whitlow on my left hand, how likely is it that my partner now has it? I fingered them anally. At the time the skin above the cuticle was swollen (which I thought was paranychia). I can’t tell if they were hsv2 lesions, but if so they were below the surface of my skin barrier, maybe by 1mm.

– I understand whitlow doesn’t shed/is hard to transmit unless lesions are present. does that hold true if we’re talking about fingering, and if mild lesions that didn’t break the skin barrier we’re present at the time?

[Terri Warren]

– How likely is it be to get whitlow on the hand that is not where the established infection is after 4+ years?
Highly unlikely

– If this was new whitlow on my left hand, how likely is it that my partner now has it? I fingered them anally. At the time the skin above the cuticle was swollen (which I thought was paranychia). I can’t tell if they were hsv2 lesions, but if so they were below the surface of my skin barrier, maybe by 1mm.
I still think this is unlikely to be HSV 2. I would guess that when you have an outbreak on your other hand, it is quite clear and likely very different than this.

– I understand whitlow doesn’t shed/is hard to transmit unless lesions are present. does that hold true if we’re talking about fingering, and if mild lesions that didn’t break the skin barrier we’re present at the time?
Shedding does not occur on the fingers without an outbreak. The skin is too thick for virus to leave without a break in the skin.

Terri

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