Oral hsv2?

[Anervouswreck]

Hello Mrs. Terri,
Ok my situation actually has me scared to death that I have given my 11 year old daughter oral hsv 2 from sharing a drink. I had igg testing done 6 years ago and I am hsv 1 and hsv 2 positive. On dec 1,2014 my daughter wanted me to taste a new nutrional shake she had. At the time I was very stressed and had tingling and itching in my normal spot on my bottom lip border. I barely touched her drink and it was on opposite side of my tingling. I totally have been so OCD to not let my kids share drinks with me and I honestly do not understand how I let this happen. I was unaware that hsv can be passed through saliva until I started looking into her symptoms. I thought it was only contagious if I touched an actual sore. 2 days after she drank after me she complained of having bad headache. And feeling very tired. On Dec 26 she told me she had a rash in her mouth. Which were actually 3 small lesions under top lip, bottom lip had a couple pin sized red dots( not blisters) and her entire left cheek has several white, slightly raised lesions. She had low grade fever never above 99.6 for about 8 days straight. Feb 3,2015 (9 weeks after poss exp) mouth lesionson cheek still there so I payed to have igg testing done. Results were hsv1 igg 16.57 and hsv 2 igg .15. As of today the cheek lesions are still there just not raised and upper lip just has like tiny red dots and tender skin. So my questions are
1. Does that hsv 2 result mean that hsv antibodies are being detected?
2. Is it normal for either type hsv oral outbreak to last 8 weeks and counting?
3. If in fact I have passed this horrible hsv 2 to my baby will her outbreaks stay oral or can it possibly travel to the genital area?
Thank you for your time and help

[Terri Warren]

The pictures did not load – too large for the file size allowed.
So I’m a little confused. You have HSV 2 but somehow you think your HSV 2 is oral, not genital?
It does appear that you daughter does have HSV 1 infection, which is not that unusual for a person her age. Do you also get cold sores (normally HSV 1)? She would not catch your genital HSV 2 infection through sharing a drink but maybe I am not understanding this correctly? Can you clarify?

By the way, the antibody test (and I”m assuming you that you mean that you had HER antibody tested) is not great for children of her age. There is a 50% false positive rate in children on this test. It was her, not you, that was tested?

Terri

[Anervouswreck]

Hi Terri,

Yes I’m paranoid that my oral itching and tingling is from oral hsv 2 because it never turns into an actual cold sore. It just itches and tingles and get red in same area about 2 times a year. But as soon as I notice I apply herpicin Chapstick and in 2 -5 days the sensation is gone. I had NO idea there was a possibility it could be oral hsv 2 until after she drank and had symptoms and I started browsing the net.

And yes, I had HER antibody tested. So do you think that .15 is picking up antibodies slowly? And do you think a first time oral infection/outbreak should last 8 weeks? And is it possible for it to travel to her genital area in the future? I feel my whole world has just stopped.

Thanks.

[Anervouswreck]

And I know I have genital hsv2 as I have mild outbreaks there maybe once a year or so.

[Terri Warren]

OK, now things are clearer. Thank you. You are thinking about this incorrectly. If you have genital HSV 2, it does not come up through your body and out through your mouth. Nor does the reverse happen. While it is possible that you contracted HSV 2 orally and genitally at the same time (gave oral sex to and had intercourse with the same person at the same encounter), that is not common. And if you happened to have had that happen, HSV 2 orally recurs infrequently and sheds very infrequently. The likelihood that all of these things happened to you at the same time, combined with your daughter contracting HSV 2 from an inanimate object is just astronomically small! I think the odds are close to one in a million that all of that would happen at the same time.

Since you know that you have HSV 1 infection as well as HSV 2, my best guess would be if these sensations are caused by herpes, it is HSV 1, not HSV 2.

A first time infection with HSV 2 would not last 8 weeks, no. And no, I don’t think a value of 0.15 indicates antibody is slowing developing at all! And please, don’t test her again. The test is not good for people her age and could give a false positive and totally freak both of you out.

From the antibody test, it does appear that you daughter likely has HSV 1, the cold sore virus. This may cause her to have cold sores at some point in the future. but your concern about her having HSV 2 orally is, well, way way off. I don’t know how else to put it.

Terri

[Anervouswreck]

Thank you for your response. Since I have one last post on this subscription I’ll add that when I acquired genital hsv 2 I had never given oral sex period in my life. However we did kiss so do you think he could’ve given me hsv 2 genitally from unprotected sex and then kissed me and transmitted it through his saliva to me?

I will try my best not to retest my daughter. I’m just so afraid that I have ruined her life forever by giving her oral hsv 2 and I feel the pediatricians weren’t doing enough. I just panicked because all the mouth lesions/ulcers and symptoms didn’t happen until after she drank after me. And everything I read about oral hsv 1 was that outbreaks only last 7-10 days. And it has been 8 long weeks!!

Last question, wouldnt her hsv 2 result have been 0.0 if the virus was not being detected?

Thank you very much

[Terri Warren]

I feel like you did not hear or do not believe anything I have said here.
No, I do not feel that you acquired HSV 2 orally in this manner.
Once more – you did not give your daughter HSV 2 from sharing a drink. And why would you jump to giving her HSV 2 orally vs HSV 1 which is far more likely to be shed from the mouth than HSV 2?
She likely is not displaying signs of herpes at all if it is lasting 8 long weeks.
No one has a value of .000. All results have a value. It is inherent in the test. This test has a high rate of false positives in children and is never recommended to be done in children.

You need to get a grip here. Your reactions are emotional and not reflecting the science behind herpes transmission. Your daughter is only 11 and is counting on your good sense. Please think carefully about this.

If you have more questions you can renew your subscription.

Terri

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