Well, you aren’t going to like what I have to say but I’ll answer you anyway.
Autoinnoculation, infecting another location on your body after being infected at a primary location, almost always happens (and it doesn’t happen often) within the first four months of the initial infection. After that, the immune system recognizes any intrusion of virus and stops that virus from infecting a new area of the body. If this was not true, we would see children, who frequently acquire oral HSV, infecting all sort of new areas of their bodies, which we do NOT see.
1. Does this sound like hand/body herpes? Have you ever had any patients with these white dots that don’t fully develop into blisters? My rationalization is that if there are people out there who get no symptoms at all, why can’t there be people that get partial symptoms?
No. These lesions sound nothing at all like herpes.
2. If this is not herpes, why do most of my symptoms subside when I’m on valcyclovir? And why did they come back when I stopped the meds?
I don’t have an answer for that. It is possible that you have some other viral illness and somehow the herpes medicines crosses over and help that infection as well?
3. How long does the virus live outside the body? Do both hsv1 and hsv2 live outside the body the same amount of time? How long does it survive on chapstick?
Studies vary on that from minutes to hours. Chapstick and lipstick sharing does concern me because those substances stay moist which the virus likes.
4. Is it true that hsv2 on the face has less severe outbreaks/episodes, and same for hsv1 on the genitals?
Very very few outbreaks with HSV 2 oral infection, yes
5. Does the virus die with water alone due to the chlorine?
Yes
6. Even if you don’t believe it to be hand/body herpes, what are your recommendations on avoiding transmission to others? I have kids and am in constant fear of transmitting it to them and other family members. Can I share a kitchen towel? How long does the virus live outside the body? Assuming that I have hand herpes, if I touch something and my kids touch it immediately after I do, assuming they don’t have any cuts on their hands, can they contract hand herpes? What if they touch an object immediately after I touch it and then immediately put their finger in their eye, mouth or lips?
I don’t believe that you have hand herpes so I would advise you to live normally without being concerned about any of the issues that you raise in this paragraph
7. How do I go about getting a swab kit? How much per swab test
Each swab kit from our clinic costs $75. We can ship out PCR swab kits but honestly, I think this would be a complete and total waste of money.
You have been told by so many providers that this is not herpes yet you seem dead set on believing that it is. Do you really believe that your diagnostic abilities are better than all of them? I don’t think so. I feel like you are really suffering with these beliefs that you hold and I’m so sorry for your anguish, but really, I think you are wrong here.
Terri