HSV1 positive – hoping for clarity

[zasm]

Hi Terri,

Feeling horrible and am hoping for clarification. Thank you in advance.

I have just been diagnosed with HSV1 via IGG test (value of 18.04). I have never had any symptoms or outbreaks.

I believe that my timeline will be helpful:

2020
(1 year into long term relationship), girlfriend at the time experiences painful genital breakouts. Doctor diagnoses her with herpes through a visual diagnosis (irresponsible, I know). Partner at time was treated with antivirals which got rid of sores so we basically confirmed HSV. That ex-partner still experiences outbreaks of varying intensity all of which are successfully treated with same antivirals during breakouts.

Long term relationship continues so I don’t test since we had been having unprotected sex long term and risk was constant.

2023
Long term relationship ends. Meet new sexual partner, I disclose my potential genital herpes status. I perform unprotected oral sex on her and we refrain from other sexual activities until I get my herpes test, as that is what she was comfortable with.

2 days later receive full panel STD test via bloodwork & had to add on HSV1 since their full-panel did not include HSV1, no clue why that is a thing.

One week after aforementioned sexual encounter (5 days after blood drawn for IGG test) I call doctor since results were still not uploading into the Quest portal. Informed through phone call that my STD panel was negative. That evening engage in unprotected sex (oral and genital) with same sexual partner as week prior.

Morning after, paranoia based off my ex-partner’s presumed status, confused about how I could be negative, and the long sexual encounter the night prior. I call my test site asking for my numerical results since they were still not available on Quest portal. I was informed that they did not test for HSV (very upset about this since I specified that I was coming in based off of previous exposure to HSV), and that they will ask Quest to perform HSV tests if I want.

[zasm]

(Continued)

Refrained from sexual contact but did not inform new sexual partner about my update since I did not want to spark a panic before having true information.

Following Monday, testing site informs that I tested positive for HSV1 (negative for HSV2) and should not engage in any sexual activity at all.

Quite honestly, I’ve been a mess over this. I feel horribly irresponsible for not confirming my numbers before assuming negative HSV status and am extremely scared that I have put my new sexual partner at risk and betrayed her trust.

I will be disclosing my HSV1 status to the her but want to have concrete information beforehand so that we can both be as properly informed as possible- and I have lost trust in my testing site based off of how they handled my tests.

My questions:

1. Based off of my two sexual encounters with the new partner, is there a high risk of me having passed her the virus, either orally or genitally or both? (assuming she was negative for HSV1 prior)

2. If my new partner does not exhibit symptoms within one week of sexual contact, is it safe to assume that she did not contract HSV1? Or at least did not get a new HSV1 infection from me?

3. What is the proper procedure for taking antivirals while asymptomatic? Should I take antivirals for days prior to sexual contact? What value will this have for sexual partners if they do not have HSV1?

[zasm]

2 more questions. If I need to pay more for this please let me know, I’ll purchase an add-on

1. Without having symptoms, is there a way to know where I shed my HSV1 from? Is it possible for me to shed it both orally and genitally?

2. You’ve mentioned that people with HSV1 typically do have symptoms but just don’t know how to recognize them. What are some subtle signs of HSV1 outbreaks? I feel that this might help me identify the location of my HSV1.

• This reply was modified 3 months, 2 weeks ago by zasm.

[Terri Warren]

1. Based off of my two sexual encounters with the new partner, is there a high risk of me having passed her the virus, either orally or genitally or both? (assuming she was negative for HSV1 prior)
I think the risk is very low indeed. 47% of the US population is positive for HSV 1, so almost half the population between 14 and 49 have this condition, so there is a very reasonable chance she is also infected, thought 70% of those infected don’t know they are infected. Most HSV 1 is oral – cold sores in the nose or on the lip, but some can be genital. But genital HSV 1 rarely recurs and is rarely shed.

2. If my new partner does not exhibit symptoms within one week of sexual contact, is it safe to assume that she did not contract HSV1? Or at least did not get a new HSV1 infection from me?
I would say two weeks.

3. What is the proper procedure for taking antivirals while asymptomatic? Should I take antivirals for days prior to sexual contact? What value will this have for sexual partners if they do not have HSV1?
If you wish to take antivirals to reduce the risk of transmission, you should start 5 days in advance on contact. The usual dose is 500 mg once daily.

Terri

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