Roomates has HSV2

[Beingextrasafe]

Hi Terri,

Through casual conversation I found out that my roomate for next year (living in the same house not sharing room but sharing bathroom/shower and kitchen and our house also has a pool) has “genital herpes” (I assume hsv2) through confirmed blood test. He says he has never had an outbreak but was with someone that was positive and he contracted it from them. This immediately is giving me a lot of anxiety about living in a shared space with him. When I have talked to other doctors they all give me the generic “there is a very low chance” answer and I have done my fair share of research but I am still pretty worried. My main question would be is there a legitimate chance that I could possibly contract hsv2 from him through shared living spaces like bathroom/shower/kitchen/pool? And if so are there precautionary measures I should take to try to minimize the chances that this happens?

I have one other question as well. After doing more research about hsv2 I am having anxiety about myself having it and just not knowing. When I have gone to the doctors in the past they have said that they don’t test for it unless you have symptoms. I have never had any symptoms or anything remotely close to symptoms but I am worried that I could possibly have it and it is just dormant. In my first couple years of college I had some (5-6 partners) unprotected sex that I am really worried about. So I guess my question would be is it worth getting tested for it even if I have never had symptoms?

So to summarize my two main questions are
1. Is there a legitimate chance that I could possibly contract hsv2 from him through shared living spaces like bathroom/shower/kitchen/pool? And if so are there precautionary measures I should take to try to minimize the chances that this happens?
2. Is it worth getting tested for it even if I have never had symptoms/should I be worried if I have had unprotected sex in the past?

Thank you so so much.

[Terri Warren]

There is no legitimate chance that you would acquire HSV 2 from a roommate unless they are your sex partner. I would recommend that you use your own towel, but other than that, no precautions are needed. Period. I also wonder if your roommate’s diagnosis is correct, given the high rate of false positive in some populations for this test. If he was diagnosed only by blood test, it would be worth looking at the numbers associated with that diagnosis and if low, confirmation should be done.

Given the rate of false positives, you should carefully consider the IgG test. It is true that 80% of those infected don’t know they are infected, so you could the IgG and confirm a low positive if it happened with the western blot OR begin with the western blot though it is more expensive.

Terri

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