-You truly don’t think I should worry about intrauterine hsv after having it for 12 years? Do you think taking my daily antivirals decreases this risk more?
Yes, I think you should not worry about this and antivirals may indeed help reduce this risk but I don’t believe we have data on that issue.
-You can say with 100% certainty I cant spread hsv around in the ways I described above with water and drying off?
Yes, but remember that with genital infection, you can have outbreaks anywhere in the boxer shorts area or down the leg even into the foot – that is the innervation of that area.
-I know not to share towels and washcloths, but my kids have brushed against a towel or loofa sponge that is hanging to dry. Is there any risk there?
No
-Erythema multiforme. You think getting this after several outbreaks of hsv2 over the past 13 years would be very rare? Does having extremely sensitive skin or eczema put one at risk? If I were to get it, do the rash lesions body spread hsv? Just SO worried about transmission to my kids.
EM is an immune response to the herpes infection and yes, I think it would be very unlikely to show up now.
-My therapist asks me what upsets me most about hsv. I worry about it becoming unmanageable or spreading it to my kids. You can say with 100% certainty, I cannot pass this to my kids in day to day life. There will NEVER be enough hsv on clothing, surfaces, my hands to spread it to them? I get nervous about any entry point for hsv on them- their eyes & mouth (cleaning their face, brushing teeth), genitals (diaper changes), cuts & scrapes which they have all the time. I shouldn’t ever worry about preparing food for them, the toilet seat, a shared hand towel in the bathroom?
Correct, these are not methods of transmission to a child
-My infection becoming unmanageable. Disseminated infection is an irrational fear? Hsv does not move throughout the body and appear somewhere else?
Not in the normal health adult, no.
-Even though I used to bite my nails and cuticles a lot when I was younger, you still dont think I should worry about having contracted whitlow in the past? I def was not overly cautious like I am now, but I knew that hsv is very contagious and to immediately wash my hands if I touched a sore, Im confident I always practiced proper hygiene.
Good job!
-Do you think after 13 years I could mistake bug bites for hsv on my leg? I always worry about every bump or itchy spot that appears on my body and I don’t know how to get past it
Herpes lesions on the leg look very different than bug bites. They present as water blisters on a red base and though they may itch, they don’t itch like bug bites.
Terri