What's my Risk/Can I Contract HSV1 Twice

[Sophie]

Hi Terri,

So my husband and I are in an open relationship. We both see the same man. This man and his wife have both tested negative for HSV 1 and 2 in the past.

However, we have recently been made aware that she has had a primary outbreak (aka her first one) of genital herpes. She is awaiting test results to see if it is 1 or 2, but she thinks it is most likely HSV1 as her partner (not her husband) has HSV1 and they recently had oral/genital contact.

Now a math problem!

Let’s say she slept with her partner on day 1. With protection for penatrative sex, but not for oral play.

She slept with her husband with no protection on day 2 and possibly 4. With no protection.

I slept with him (with protection, and we are always careful to have no genital to genital contact) on day 6. My husband had interaction with him orally with no protection day 6 (they do not have penatrative sex.) My husband and I have penatrative sex on day 6, with no protection.

His wife get symptoms later on day 6, it is not apparent that it is genital herpes until day 8.

Husband and I have penatrative sex, no protection, on day 10. (They told us on day 11.)

So that’s the timeline.

I already have HSV1 orally, and have since I was 6 years old. (I have outbreaks maybe once every 6-7 years, if that.) My husband does not have HSV1.

If it turns out that our partner’s wife has HSV1, should I be worried with the above timeline of contracting it genitally? Some say it’s rare but there seems to be a lot of misinformation, too.

What about my husband’s risk factor? Obviously our partner is getting tested once he’s outside the 12 week mark and then my husband will get tested too.

My husband and I are waiting to have sex with each other until we are 1) out of the 2-12 day exposure window and 2) until we know what what type she has. Are there any other precautions we should take?

Obviously if it’s HSV2 then the above is moot, I assume?

Thank you!

[Terri Warren]

Wow, that made my head swim a bit, but thank you for the detailed timeline. I hope I have it all straight. If she has HSV 1, you are not at risk. Your husband is always at risk from you anyway right?

The thing is, with HSV 1, the IgG test traditionally offered misses 30% of HSV 1 infections so a negative test may or may not be accurate anyway.

And yes, if she is HSV 2 positive, then all bets are off here

Did I miss something here?

Terri

[Sophie]

Thanks, Terri.

I’m concerned about HSV 2 as I questioned the couple and they’re not as savvy as I thought (they didn’t know what an Igg is so my thought is that they assumed they had tested negative for herpes but have never gotten a test.

Again the man is the only one I’ve had sexual contact with. He’s now 25 days out from unprotected sexual contact with his wife and had no symptoms.

I’m 21 days out but have started to have done itching/burning, but no sores. Everything is complicated by the fact that I get BV and am menopausal so I deal with vaginal dryness and pain a lot. Oh, and I’ve been in the swimming pool a lot so the chlorine could make everything worse. Obviously I’m going to the ob/gyn to rule anything out and will get the HSV2 igg test, but if this is an HSV 2 outbreak, the sores should show up in the next 48 hours, yes? I’m trying to figure out what my timeline is to stress. But if he’s not having any symptoms, would it be weird that I am? I realize that this will all probably be pretty clear on the next day or so, but I’m trying to give myself some hope.

Thanks.

[Terri Warren]

If you did have HSV 2, and were going to have sores, they would normally show up 2-10 days after the encounter. And if you had new herpes and were looking so closely, I think you might see sores. Is he going to be tested now?

Terri

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