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Hello Terri,
I have a few general questions regarding hsv2 outbreaks and transmission:
1) Have you experienced or heard of cases where a first outbreak of genital hsv2 heals and recovers in less than a week (completely gone in 5-7 days)? I understand the recovery time is typically 2-4 weeks for an initial outbreak and significantly less for subsequent ones. However, could healing time for initial outbreaks be significantly reduced to a matter of days/1 week if one takes an antiviral within 48 hours of the first sores appearing? Are there others factors that could reduce the healing time of an initial hsv2 outbreak to less than a week (such as prior exposure to hsv1 or size of the sore)?
2) I have Herpetic whitlow, how confident can I be that I have not transferred it to my genitals or mouth? I have just recovered from my first (and I pray last) outbreak, which took about 5 weeks for scabs to fall off and heal. During the time of my outbreak I was very careful to bandage the wounds and not touch my genital region. If I did not suffer any outbreak on the mouth or genitals at the time of my initial whitlow outbreak, can I be confident that I avoided transferring it there? Or is there a risk that I may have transferred it there without experiencing any sores, and thus sores may emerge there in the future?
3) I have read that Herpetic Whitlow cannot transfer unless there is a visible sore present. What about if there are breaks in the skin (such as hangnails)? Could the virus get out then?
4) In your experience, do people who have Herpetic whitlow inevitably end up transferring it to other areas? Or are they usually able to contain it to just the finger? Is there any chance the virus could migrate through my nervous system and pop up in my genital region?
Thank you,
Bartholemew -
1) Have you experienced or heard of cases where a first outbreak of genital hsv2 heals and recovers in less than a week (completely gone in 5-7 days)? I understand the recovery time is typically 2-4 weeks for an initial outbreak and significantly less for subsequent ones. However, could healing time for initial outbreaks be significantly reduced to a matter of days/1 week if one takes an antiviral within 48 hours of the first sores appearing? Are there others factors that could reduce the healing time of an initial hsv2 outbreak to less than a week (such as prior exposure to hsv1 or size of the sore)?
Yes, that is possible particularly the case in people who already have HSV 1.2) I have Herpetic whitlow, how confident can I be that I have not transferred it to my genitals or mouth? I have just recovered from my first (and I pray last) outbreak, which took about 5 weeks for scabs to fall off and heal. During the time of my outbreak I was very careful to bandage the wounds and not touch my genital region. If I did not suffer any outbreak on the mouth or genitals at the time of my initial whitlow outbreak, can I be confident that I avoided transferring it there? Or is there a risk that I may have transferred it there without experiencing any sores, and thus sores may emerge there in the future?
That’s a difficult question to answer since it is impossible to prove a negative. But if I were you, I would look back at the contact that you had to get whitlow and if there was no genital or oral sex involved in that experience, within 2-10 days, I would say it is very likely that it is confined to your finger.Terri
3) I have read that Herpetic Whitlow cannot transfer unless there is a visible sore present. What about if there are breaks in the skin (such as hangnails)? Could the virus get out then?
Probably not no4) In your experience, do people who have Herpetic whitlow inevitably end up transferring it to other areas? Or are they usually able to contain it to just the finger? Is there any chance the virus could migrate through my nervous system and pop up in my genital region?
They are usually able to contain it to a finger, but very often people get it on their finger because they have it another place already.Terri
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1) You mentioned that there is “probably not” a chance for the virus to get out through my fingers even if there are hangnails (or cuticle wounds etc.). Does that mean it is not probable but still possible? From what I have read (including from your expertise), Herpetic whitlow does not shed when there are no visible sores. If it is not probable, but still possible, could you describe for me a situation where it might be able to get out even without visible sores?
I would revise that to say almost certainly not, actually.2) Regarding question 2 on my prior post, your response suggests to me that if I did not suffer any oral or genital outbreak 2-10 days after my whitlow contraction then I can be confident it will not pop up there in the future. Is that right? There was genital sex
involved in the contact that gave me the whitlow, but protection was used.
Condoms reduce transmission of HSV 2 from females to males by 65% so effective but not perfect. I think if you didn’t have any oral or genital symptoms within 2-10 days after the contact, genital or oral infection is quite unlikely. How long after the sexual encounter did you develop herpes whitlow? And how exactly was your whitlow diagnosed?3) Can the virus migrate to another site (i.e. genital or mouth region) other than the initial outbreak site through my nervous system? Or can it migrate through skin to skin contact only?
When it is on the finger, it will only reactivate in the area of your body supplied by the nerves that supply the finger. You could look at a nerve dermatome map online to see where that is exactly. it stays in that nerve group. Once you have developed a substantial immune response to this, which is about four months after being infected, it is highly unlikely that you would get this in a new place on your body, like genitals or mouth.Terri
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First, you said the diagnosis was made by culture – was it also typed to determine that it was HSV 2?
I would say that if you tested negative by IgG test between March and May, it is likely that the whitlow is your first infection. If it was an IgM test, we can’t really know. So do you know that the person from whom you acquired this has HSV 2? And you put your fingers in their genital area?Terri
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No, the recurrence rate as I understand it is about the same
Terri
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