Ocular Herpes

Five years ago while I was pregnant, I discovered I had herpes through a blood test. I had never had any signs of the virus previously. I had no outbreaks for several years. Now I have occasional cold sores in my mouth. In the past two months I have had two in my mouth. Soon after the first one appeared I had another one appear on my nose (at the top inner corner where my glasses rest. I was not immediately aware it was a herpes blister, it did not seam to heal quickly, was itchy and continued to scab over but I thought it was due to my glasses always irritating it. When I went to a ENT for allergy testing last week he asked me what it was. I said I did not know. He made me rethink it and I am quite sure now that it is a herpes blister. For several days I have had itchy, swollen and watery eyes (both, but one more than the other) pain like a headache and sensitivity to light especially at night. Now, when I flip my eyelid up on each eye and look underneath I seem to have one blister on each inner eyelid. I'm planning to go to the ER tomorrow morning. In the meantime I have talked to my general doctor who prescribed an anti-viral for the blisters in my mouth. I am concerned about my young children contracting the virus. My 10 year old showed me a cold sore the other day on the inside of his mouth, just like the ones I get. What can I do to protect them? Is it possible that my husband of 15 years does not have herpes? He seems to never had any symptoms, however about 4 years ago he did have scabs in his ear canal on both sides that did not go away quickly. He saw an ENT, but the doctor never suggested it was herpes. Thank you.

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

I would recommend that you see an ophthalmologist and not go to the ER.  In most cases it will be a waste of time.

90to 95% of the population has herpes which does not show any symptoms.  He can get a blood test to confirm it.  Virus spread from contact and it is very hard to prevent it.

Dr. O.