Reply To: Timing of transmission

[transmissionquestion]

Thanks, Terri.

>>Terri wrote: “I am a little confused about the dates that you listed. You said you started developing symptoms in late December that you were diagnosed with HSV-2 via a swab test in mid January 2015. Did you have symptoms the whole time in between? can clarify that for me?”

Yes, I had continuous symptoms for that two-week-or-so period. It’s possible, though, that my first “symptoms” were just irritation from sex. I started having symptoms (itching/burning on labia, general irritation of vagina) on/around Christmas 2014, then had the strong flulike symptoms, etc., and still had one of two small bumps present when I went in for my exam on January 9, 2015, that was used for the culture test to diagnose HSV-2.

What did the flulike symptoms and groin swelling/pain represent? What was going on with my body; was that my immune system responding? From what I have read online, I thought that the symptoms I described could be signs of a first infection. Is that incorrect?

>>Terri wrote: “By three weeks from infection, 50% of those who are going to make antibody will have done so. If you are negative now, it would mean that this is your first infection.”

I am not three weeks from infection. I am six weeks from my first symptoms at this point. So probably no point in taking an antibody test, correct?

>>Terri wrote: “If he tests negative for HSV-2, then I would wonder when his last sexual partner was other than you and try to sort out whether he may have brand-new infection and infected you or if he has truly not infected. You asked about the timing of his testing and my response is that it would be best for him to wait 12 to 16 weeks after his most recent partner prior to you to be tested for greatest accuracy.”

As I said in my original post, his last sexual partner was in early or mid-October 2014. He says the blood was tested for herpes. What type of test should he ask for if/when he gets retested, keeping in mind that he may have been HSV-2-negative when we started having sex but contracted it from me, if I was already infected?

So it’s a possibility that I could have acquired this from my husband and it lay dormant for that period of time? How likely is this?

• This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by transmissionquestion.