Questions: You mention in the handbook that transmission is most likely to happen within the first 3 months of sleeping together. What is the reasoning for this and what do you think the chances of me passing GHSV1 to my partner is now that we have been together over a year and I’ve had the infection over a year with no outbreaks? After how many years together do you stop worrying about transmission? Or is this something we will have to worry about forever? Is it most likely to happen within 3 months bc that’s when people are having the most sex in a relationship?
First of all, we have no idea how long you’ve been infected. It could have been years prior to your diagnosis so we cannot estimate how often you are shedding virus. And that plays into how likely you are to transmit. I personally have never seen someone who acquired HSV 1 through intercourse but it has been documented in the literature. If you’ve been infected for two years or more, you shed about 4 days out of a year. And yes, most transmissions of HSV 2 (and we don’t know about HSV 1) happen in the first 3 months because that’s when people have the most sex.
6 months after diagnosis I asked my dr if I could also take a blood test and she told me no. I wanted to take a blood test to see how established my infection was. Would you say the more established an infection is the higher amount of antibodies you have meaning the less likely you are to shed? Do you see any benefit in me also taking a blood test? My drs words when I asked for a blood test “why do you want it to be negative so you can forget you have it?”
There is no reason for an antibody test 6 months after a diagnosis by swab test. Your infection was well established, by definition. The index value you would received after an IgG test would not tell you anything except that you are infected. I see no point in doing the test now, but not for the reason your doctor mentioned. I think that comment was pretty snarky.
Terri