New baby

[Ettadagger]

I was diagnosed with HSV2 when I had some burning genital pain without lesions. I have had some recurrent episodes of buttock/thigh nerve pain since then. I had a baby a couple months ago and am terrified of giving her HSV by kissing. I’m worried I may have oral HSV2 despite never having oral symptoms as I did engage in oral sex with the person who gave me HSV. I’m HSV1 negative. I guess my question is how worried do I need to be about spreading it via kisses? I know it can be a devastating illness in babies. I’m taking Valtrex just to be safe but plan on getting pregnant again in the future so won’t be on it forever as I’m sure they’ll want me to stop it in early pregnancy. I hate the idea of never being able to kiss my children but their safety is my biggest concern.

[Terri Warren]

How exactly were you diagnosed as having HSV 2 infection?
HSV 2 oral infection is very rare indeed. And when it is there, it is very rarely shed. I don’t think you should worry at all about infecting your baby.

Terri

[Ettadagger]

I had positive Igm and Igg antibodies for HSV2. Thank you for your reply. I read it’s also less dangerous for babies if they get HSV after they’re six months old so just to be safe I’ve implemented a no kissing rule until she is at least 6 months.
As a side note I just wanted to say thank you for your book and for this forum. There is a lot of misinformation out there about HSV being spread by utensils and common everyday interactions so it’s easy to get overwhelmed. I really appreciate you helping out the “HSV community!”

[Terri Warren]

Ignore the IgM result. What was the index value on your IgG result for HSV 2? If your index value was between 1.1 and 3.5, half of those results are false positives. Before you get too worried about this, let’s make sure the diagnosis is correct.

You are correct that older babies do far better when infected with HSV than tiny babies.

Terri

[Ettadagger]

IgG was 4.3. My husband, who is the source of my infection (He didn’t know he had it early in our relationship) also had a positive IgG and he has more typical outbreaks.

[Terri Warren]

So that is likely a true infection. I really really wouldn’t worry about having HSV 2 orally. While it can happen, it is really uncommon. When HSV 2 is oral, shedding and recurrences are really rare. I know you have decided not to kiss the baby on the mouth until they are 6 months old, but if you slip up, I wouldn’t worry at all about giving the baby HSV 2.

Terri

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