Positive IGG for HSV1 but no outbreaks, is oral sex safe?

[ea]

I’ve had lifelong oral HSV-1, with outbreaks on average once a year (I think it’s been a couple years without, at this point). I’m not using antivirals.

My partner was HSV clean until we started dating, then got a positive HSV-1 test (>5.00 on HSV1 IGG type specific, 0.10 on HSV2 IGG type specific) October of last year. No outbreaks ever, though.

We’ve been abstaining from me performing oral sex on her because we’re worried that doing so means there’s a chance she might get HSV1 outbreaks genitally. We’ve got some questions:

1) Does a positive IGG test mean she definitely carries the virus, or can it mean that she was exposed but fought it off?

2) Would oral sex on her increase the chance of experiencing outbreaks genitally? I’ve heard that it basically doesn’t happen to get outbreaks in a new location after a previous location is established, but since there hasn’t been a primary outbreak, what’s her risk like?

3) Is the mechanism of not getting HSV-1 in a new location due to the fact that they have antibodies already, or is it something else? If it’s having antibodies that provides the protection, would there be a level at which it should be safe to be exposed in a new location, regardless of whether an initial outbreak has ever occurred?

To the extent you can talk about probabilities of risk (even if they’re estimates), that would help us a lot.

[Terri Warren]

1) Does a positive IGG test mean she definitely carries the virus, or can it mean that she was exposed but fought it off?
No, it means that she has the virus. That means, whether she has it orally or genitally, she will not get it in a new location.
When you say she tested “clean” before she met you, does that mean she is certain that herpes testing was included in whatever she had done and that the HSV 1 was negative as well as the HSV 2?

2) Would oral sex on her increase the chance of experiencing outbreaks genitally? I’ve heard that it basically doesn’t happen to get outbreaks in a new location after a previous location is established, but since there hasn’t been a primary outbreak, what’s her risk like?

You are correct. But we don’t know where her infection is right? It could be oral or genitally, we don’t know. But regardless of where she has it, she is extremely unlikely to get it in a new place on her body so I would say that oral sex from you to her would be fine. She could get an outbreak genitally at some point but that would be because she has it there already and just doesn’t know that she does.

3) Is the mechanism of not getting HSV-1 in a new location due to the fact that they have antibodies already, or is it something else? If it’s having antibodies that provides the protection, would there be a level at which it should be safe to be exposed in a new location, regardless of whether an initial outbreak has ever occurred?

yes. It is likely a combination of antibody and other immune responses that keep that from happening.

To the extent you can talk about probabilities of risk (even if they’re estimates), that would help us a lot.

Terri

[Author]

Posts