– How likely is it be to get whitlow on the hand that is not where the established infection is after 4+ years?
Highly unlikely
– If this was new whitlow on my left hand, how likely is it that my partner now has it? I fingered them anally. At the time the skin above the cuticle was swollen (which I thought was paranychia). I can’t tell if they were hsv2 lesions, but if so they were below the surface of my skin barrier, maybe by 1mm.
I still think this is unlikely to be HSV 2. I would guess that when you have an outbreak on your other hand, it is quite clear and likely very different than this.
– I understand whitlow doesn’t shed/is hard to transmit unless lesions are present. does that hold true if we’re talking about fingering, and if mild lesions that didn’t break the skin barrier we’re present at the time?
Shedding does not occur on the fingers without an outbreak. The skin is too thick for virus to leave without a break in the skin.
Terri