Transmission

[california1992]

I was diagnosed with GHSV-1 by swab after developing sores from oral sex in December 2022. I have been on anti-viral suppressive therapy since to reduce outbreaks and transmission rates to partners. Since January, I randomly get tingling on the lips of my mouth, but I have never gotten a sore there or had an outbreak. So there is like no way I know if I have oral hsv-1 because I can’t even test by swab since no sore has ever been presented and blood results would just indicate that I have HSV-1 present in my body.
I recently was intimate for the first time since my diagnosis, and now I am just overthinking per usual!

1. What are the chances of me passing GHSV-1 to the individual with just anti-viral therapy, no outbreak, and no condom? (I am a female and my partner is a male)

2. Since I am not sure of my dx of having OSHV-1, what are the chances I passed it to him by GIVING oral sex? Even while on anti-viral therapy. (I am a female and my partner is a male)

I have been having a hard time finding any research articles and statistics on oral sex transmission while on anti-virals. I have heard great things about you and I have been following your forum since my diagnosis. I really appreciate all your help and what you have done to calm my nerves since my recent diagnosis.

Thank you so much Terri! I look forward to your response.

[Terri Warren]

1. What are the chances of me passing GHSV-1 to the individual with just anti-viral therapy, no outbreak, and no condom? (I am a female and my partner is a male)
We don’t have that data so I can’t tell you but I can tell you that the risk is low. Has your partner actually been tested to know if they are HSV one negative? If not, that might not be a bad idea

2. Since I am not sure of my dx of having OSHV-1, what are the chances I passed it to him by GIVING oral sex? Even while on anti-viral therapy. (I am a female and my partner is a male)
If you’ve not had an actual outbreak orally I think it is relatively safe to assume you only have it genitally. There’s no way I know this for certain as it isn’t possible to prove a negative in the situation.

I have been having a hard time finding any research articles and statistics on oral sex transmission while on anti-virals. I have heard great things about you and I have been following your forum since my diagnosis. I really appreciate all your help and what you have done to calm my nerves since my recent diagnosis.

When someone has been infected with HSV one for about five months, they should virus on about 7% of days. Your genital HSV one infection has not been present that long and so I think you are going to shed virus from time to time. The antiviral medicine will certainly reduce that amount of shedding. My opinion in your situation, since your infection is relatively new, would be to disclose this to this partner and encourage them to be tested to see if they have HSV one. You could just also ask if they’ve ever had a cold sore and if they have, then they have HSV one infection.

Terri

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