saliva

[slick]

is it possible to get herpes from someone’s airborne saliva? i have a friend who gets cold sores and whenever i am talking to him up close, i can feel droplets of spit land on my face, my lips, on occasion my eyes. he has not had active cold sores when this has occurred, but if he was “shedding” at the time, would this put me at risk?

[Terri Warren]

This is such an easy one! NO, HSV 1 is not transmitted in the way that you describe. There are infections that are spread by droplets such as you describe, like colds and flu, not NOT HSV.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Also, have you actually been tested to know that you don’t have HSV 1 infection? The majority of the US population is, and the vast majority don’t have symptoms or symptoms that they recognize.

Terri

[slick]

hi terri,

at your suggestion, i got an igg test for hsv 1 and 2 and came back negative for both. interesting thing: the nurse who administered the test gave me a sideways glance me when i told her i wanted to be tested for hsv 1. she said, “do you know what that is?” she seemed to be surprised that i wanted a test for that.

anyway, my follow up is similar to my first question. sharing a spoon with someone who has hsv 1, with possible cold sore present… how big a risk is that?

many thanks for your help.

best,

“slick”

[Terri Warren]

I think if there is no cold sore present, the risk of sharing a spoon with someone with a only a history of HSV 1 is an extremely low risk situation.

Terri

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