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Hi Terri,
Thank you for answering my previous questions. I have renewed my subscription and have a few more questions for you.
To recap: I am a heterosexual HSV1 and HSV2 negative male. My current partner (who I have not had oral or penetrative sex with yet) tested negative for HSV1 and HSV2 two months ago. However, until four weeks ago she was having unprotected penetrative and oral sex with a HSV1 positive partner who had been exposed to HSV2 in his previous relationship (assuming the sex was unprotected). Her former partner was tested at six weeks since his last HSV2 exposure and came up negative.
My questionsL
1) What is the seroconversion rate for the HerpeSelect test at 12 weeks? At 16 weeks? Do you have any idea what the numbers look like for HSV1+ vs HSV1 negative individuals?
2) Would it be possible to provide me pubmed links to the studies on seroconversion done with the HerpeSelect test? I am in the biomedical sciences and would be able ton interpret them fairly well I think. And would be less likely to bug you about specific windows.
3) If my current partner’s ex (who is HSV1 positive, exposed, but HSV2 negative at 6 weeks) was tested at 16 weeks and came back negative, and my current partner tested negative at eight weeks, would most clinicians say that my partner is highly unlikely to have HSV2? Would you personally recommend she wait longer?
4) Is there any understood reason for why people don’t seroconvert past 16 weeks or even 6 months in these studies? Are most of the non-converters HSV1 positive? Were some of them potentially on anti-viral therapy?
5) Are you able to answer any questions regarding testing for other STIs, especially HIV? I have a few questions regarding the Ab test vs the RNA PCR test. If you can’t answer them, do you know of any forum or site with a similar format where I could get my questions answered by an expert, such as yourself?
6) Just to clarify: though both events are unlikely, which is more likely: to get oral HSV2 from giving oral sex to an infected partner or to get genital HSV2 from receiving oral sex from an infected partner? I have read that in 10% of HSV2 genital HSV2 cases there is also infection orally, but oral HSV2 by itself is rare? Is there any known reason for this?
7) Are most cases of whitlow from HSV1? Have you seen many cases in the clinic?
8) It seems like there are many cases where people have large breakouts years after their exposure. Is there any understood reason for this? Are initial breakouts due to HSV2 really that asymptomatic in so many cases?