Questions about oral hsv2

[secondary661]

Hi Terri,
I went to an urgicare center after developing sores around and in my mouth. I had started to see a new guy, and he was in a bad car accident. We had never had sex before, but I started to visit him at home and giving him only oral sex. When I developed the sores, the urgicare center swabbed the sores and said they were hsv2.They wouldn’t swab me vaginally because there were no sores and there hadn’t been any vaginal contact.The oral sores were very painful and lasted almost a month to heal. My boyfriend says he didn’t know he had herpes, and I believe him. We are both 23 and only had a couple of partners.So my questions are, I read hsv2 is less troublesome in that it usually doesn’t come back and usually doesn’t spread.If that is the case, what is the appropriate way to tell new partners without them thinking I have genital herpes? Most people my age are not very educated, so I’m worried about someone new panicking unnecessarily. Is it correct that I don’t have genital herpes in that herpes wouldn’t travel from one site to another, and is it the case that I am now immune from getting genital hsv2? Are there other things I should know about oral hsv2?
Thank you Terri

[Terri Warren]

It is true that you are essentially vaccinated against HSV 2 genital infection at this time.
And it is correct that oral HSV 2 rarely recurs and is rarely shed from the mouth. As far as disclosing to partners: That’s a tricky one. I’m going to consult with my mentor, Anna Wald on that one and see what she says. I’ll let you know.

Terri

[secondary661]

Hi Terri, thank you so much. One of the things I’m most afraid of is not being able to kiss freely, or to give oral sex without a condom. That would definitely make me feel like I’m very contagious. I look forward to your answer, thank you for being there.

[Terri Warren]

So I spoke with Anna Wald – as I suspected, she didn’t have an exact answer for me either, except to say that people with oral HSV 2 likely shed even less than people who have genital HSV 1, which is really uncommon.

I guess my opinion is that without a cold sore on your lip, it is likely OK to kiss people without worry and give oral sex to people, especially after you’ve been infected for a year or two. There is no perfect answer here, I’m afraid, no promises about this. Just educated guesses.

Terri

[secondary661]

Thank you so much Terri. Is the answer about disclosure equally uncertain? I feel like it would be very difficult for someone who doesn’t understand the virus to understand the idea of oral HSV-2. A lot of the articles I read don’t acknowledge that HSV-2 can occur orally. Would disclosure just cause unnecessary angst?

[Terri Warren]

Yes, I would say the question about transmission is equally unclear, though I would feel very comfortable saying that the risk is incredibly low – lower than the risk of HSV 1 genital-to-genital transmission, which is also very low.

Terri

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