female 53, ghsv1 for 9 years. No subsequent outbreaks. Should I disclose to a male?
tricky question – you are likely shedding very very infrequently. If the male is someone who would understand the science of this, you could disclose, yes. If not, I think you could say that you have the cold sore virus genitally.
Anyway of testing to know if shedding?
Only really swabbing things that you think might be symptoms. I had one man who swabbed every single day for a year because he tested positive for HSV one and did not know the location. He was negative on every single swab. And his bank account was greatly depleted.
Will washing genitals before or after sex have any effect on transmission?
We don’t know the answer to that but I don’t think it could hurt
Is it possible that some people do not shed?
I think it is very likely that some people, nine years out from infection, don’t shed virus. Absolutely
It is stated that after 2 years shedding can happen on 4 days. Were these days equally distributed throughout the year?
I don’t have that data
On a day someone is shedding do you know how long shedding lasts?
Most shedding episodes last about six hours some last longer but some last even shorter. We’re talking here about asymptomatic viral shedding. Obviously, people with outbreaks have a different situation.
Logically, anyone in your situation is way less of a risk to a sex partner than someone who has cold sores or has had them in their lifetime with few recurrences. You are going to shed less than those folks. I think the problem comes in trying to explain this to someone. I’ve been asked this question so many times, and I think that part of my response is that if people are having casual sex without asking for STI testing prior to having sex, people who have very long-standing genital HSV one infection likely do not need to disclose this information. In that kind of situation, people are taking some risks inherently and for you, the risk of you infecting someone else is so incredibly low, I am not clear that disclosure needs to happen at all. I don’t think that’s true in a long standing relationship, not because I think you are more likely to infect someone but more because that’s quite a secret to keep and then it becomes a matter of trust rather than transmission.
Terri