[humeshat]

Hi Terri,

Thanks so much for your response. Just so you know, I purchased another round of follow-up questions.

I’m so happy to hear this! If the skin around my fingernail is too thick to shed asymptomatically, can the same be said for my pubic area (not my penis or testicles, but the area around there?). Also, would you be willing to direct me to some of the papers that have been published on the topic of skin being too thick for virus to shed asymptomatically? I trust your advice, but would like to further educate myself on the topic. Moreover, my physician says that herpetic whitlow can shed asymptomatically, and it would be nice to show him something that suggests otherwise. I hope this is an okay thing to request!

Thanks for everything you do

[humeshat]

Also, to give some context:
I’m a medical student and have been poring over academic journals trying to find an explanation for why herpetic whitlow doesn’t shed asymptomatically. So far I haven’t found anything that gives a verdict one way or the other, so if you have any papers off the top of your head you could direct me to it would really put my mind at ease.

Sorry if I sound neurotic! It’s just that I’m entering into a relationship with someone who I deeply care about and want to be as informed as possible about the risks.

[humeshat]

Thanks so much for your response! This is a relief to hear. One quick follow-up: Why is it that whitlow is always symptomatic, whereas on other parts of the body herpes will sometimes never show any symptoms? Does it have something to do with the fact that herpetic whitlow is on the fingers? This might seem like a pedantic question, but I’m entering into a relationship and just want to make sure I’m as informed as possible.

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