1. What would you say are the actual chances of me having gotten HSV-1? Based on the information that the nurse told me in my first appointment about asymptomatic shedding, I calculated the odds to be around 1 in 360. But then when I asked the doctor at a later appointment, she shrugged and said 5%, although her demeanor suggested that she was pulling the figure out of thin air.
I depends upon whether she has HSV 1 orally or genitally, which I am assuming you don’t know. Also, we don’t have statistical odds about HSV 1 transmission. You may well already be infected with HSV 1 and don’t know it.
2. I have specific worries about certain sorts of activities, these have to do with whether I can transmit the virus (if I have it) through the various activities, and if so, what the odds of doing so are:
a. Touching my mouth (or genitals) then touching some other object (e.g., a piece of paper, a faucet, a doorknob, etc.) which someone else later touches.
no risk
Or, e.g., shaking hands after touching my mouth. I am also curious about tertiary touching, so, e.g., I touch my mouth, I touch my leg, someone touches my leg.
no risk
b. One activity that I have been avoiding but would like to take up again is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu—a grappling art that involves wrestling. I am worried about my mouth touching the mat and then someone else’s mouth or eye or whatever touching the mat. I am also worried about my mouth accidentally touching the other person’s mouth, eye, or even just their hand and then that hand touching their mouth etc.
If you were to have an active cold sore, I would avoid wrestling activities. Without one, no real risk
c. Activities that involve sweating in which the sweat runs across my lips and then falls on the floor or something.
no risk
d. Showering, I told my roommate the story and told him not to use my razors, towels, silverware, or drinking glasses. But, e.g., he leaves his toothbrush and razor and other items in the shower and I am worried about passing the virus from water splashing off my face or if I wash my mouth, somehow having those cells touch his things.
no risk
e. Preparing food for other people.
no risk
f. Kissing my dog.
no risk
g. Using a jacuzzi.
no risk
3. How long does the virus survive outside of the body? The doctor at the clinic said about an hour (again, in an attitude which did not give me confidence). I saw on the internet that (perhaps in a lab with effort) it has survived for four hours.
How long the virus can live off the human body and how long it can be infectious to others are different questions. I would say an hour for infectiousness is a real stretch.
4. What’s your opinion on disclosure. Should I disclose the possible risk to a new partner before kissing? Before sexual activity?
NO, you don’t even know if you have it or not.
5. Should I worry about having HSV-1 genitally?
It depends upon if she has HSV 1 and whether she has it orally or genitally. If she has it genitally, then you don’t have risk. If she has it orally, there is some risk that you could have acquired this via receiving oral sex from her.
6. How can I differentiate between good advice/facts and bad? E.g., I have heard conflicting numbers about what percentage of the population carries HSV-1.
Fifty six percent of the US population between the ages of 14 and 49 has HSV 1 infection, 70% of those are asymptomatic.
In terms of sorting out good information from bad, I would inquire of your source “how many publications on the topic of herpes do you have in the professional literature?” I can tell you that I have 28 publications in the professional literature including New England Journal of Medicine and Journal of the American Medical Association. You can trust my advice, I believe.
Your OCD is going to be a tough one when it comes to herpes. I hope you can stick to believing reasonable risks though I would guess that this is a them you’ve encountered before.
Terri