Chances of getting herpes

5 Days ago I had kissed girl and received unprotected oral sex. I do not know if she has herpes or not, but I did not see any outbreak. After this encounter I got worried  and started reading a lot of different sites and it sounds like the odds are against me. But then I started reading some old posts from medhelp and it sounds like its very unlikely that someone can get herpes from 1 unprotected oral sex encounter. Is this true?

I dont have any symptoms at this point but i have been checking everyday. My lips are kinda dry now and starting to crack but i think this is because of the cold and dry weather. Hope to hear from someone soon. THanks~!

[castello80]

There is definitely a better chance of you getting it when an active sore is present, which there wasn't. If you don't have any symptoms after two weeks then you're most likely in the clear. It's possible that you already carry HSV-1 (which would be a cold sore) and having HSV-1 on one part of the body makes you basically immune from catching it on another. Only around 20% of those with oral HSV-1 show symptoms and somewhere between 57-80% of Americans carry the virus.

HSV-1 orally sheds about 20% of days, but I think you're worrying about it too much before even knowing if she gets cold sores. I would contact her (if you can) to find out if she gets cold sores before jumping to conclusions.

[castello80]

There is definitely a better chance of you getting it when an active sore is present, which there wasn't. If you don't have any symptoms after two weeks then you're most likely in the clear. It's possible that you already carry HSV-1 (which would be a cold sore) and having HSV-1 on one part of the body makes you basically immune from catching it on another. Only around 20% of those with oral HSV-1 show symptoms and somewhere between 57-80% of Americans carry the virus.

HSV-1 orally sheds about 20% of days, but I think you're worrying about it too much before even knowing if she gets cold sores. I would contact her (if you can) to find out if she gets cold sores before jumping to conclusions.

[fusion2]

Thanks. I never had a cold sore before so I don't think I have HSV-1. I was just basing on the #'s that chances are she has HSV-1 or HSV-2. Since most places are saying 80% of American has the virus.

So you think if nothing is present in 2 weeks that I am in the clear? What if I am one of those that don't have symptoms?

[castello80]

Like I said, only 20% of those with oral HSV-1 (cold sores) actually get cold sores to know that they have the virus. You could have had one as a baby or as a young child and nothing since.

Usually symptoms present themselves within 2 weeks after exposure. You could be one of those that doesn't get obvious symptoms, and for that reason you should get tested to get peace of mind. If your blood test comes up positive and you never had symptoms genitally then most likely your infection is HSV-1 orally. It takes around 3 months to detect antibodies, so you should wait 3 months to get tested.

[fusion2]

I am looking to get tested, but it seems like I would have to wait at least 3 months before any test are accurate. I just hard to wait so long to get an answer. I guess I am trying to get comfort from experts that can tell me that from my situation I only have a 5% chance getting infected from that 1 encounter. Of course the lower the percentage the better... but from what I have been reading I feel like the odds are still against me.

[castello80]

The number of exposures really doesn't have much to do with your odds of contracting HSV-1. I've seen people not get HSV-1 from their partners in marriage for over twenty years while I have seen cases where virgins get genital HSV-1 from their first oral sex exposure. If you don't see any symptoms in two weeks then I think there's really not much to worry about. However, I still recommend that you get tested. If you develop any genital symptoms then go to the doctor and have a PCR or culture done on the area, which will give you a much faster result than having to wait three months for a blood test.

[gracefromHHP]

is it likely you contracted anything from unprotected oral sex? no it is not. keep in mind that oral sex isn't safe sex and in the future, always give and receive protected oral so you don't have to worry like this plus it protects you.  

can we give you an exact percent of risk from this encounter? no we can not. it happens but your risk depends on your own hsv1 status as much as anything.

if you were herpes negative prior to this encounter, you would present with very obvious and painful symptoms within 2-20 days after the encounter. no symptoms, you didn't contract herpes. You can then seek out type specific herpes igg blood testing for your own knowledge of your status for future partners so you can make educated decisions about what precautions to take.

grace

[fusion2]

Thanks Grace for your response. So usually speaking if someone does not show any signs of outbreak or the symptoms for the first 2 to 20 days the person is not infected by the virus? So if I take blood test 3 months later there is a good chance it comes out negative?

I know what I did was not smart. I really regret it and going forward I am going to think twice before having any sort of unprotected sex and before kissing anyone. This whole HSV1 and 2 is very scary. Sounds like you can any of these 2 viruses from just a peck on the lips... sigh

[castello80]

If you already have HSV-1 orally for at least 6 months then you have a better chance of winning the mega millions lottery than you have of contracting it genitally.

Some people can be asymptomatic, but in general, there will usually be some symptoms although they may not be obvious lesions (fatigue, muscle aches, fever, flu-like symptoms).

I suggest that you get tested just to know your status for peace of mind; you could have this already orally (despite not being able to recall symptoms), which would make you basically immune from catching it again anywhere else on your body. According to statistics, only 10-15% of people make it out of life without acquiring HSV-1, so worst case scenario, if you do have it, you were most likely bound to catch it anyway. It's really not an issue because over half of the population has it and half of your future partners would be basically immune from catching it again. If you don't have it then let this be a lesson to you.

[gracefromHHP]

no you won't get oral herpes from social pecks. you also aren't likely to contract hsv2 from oral to oral contact or oral to genital contact either.

the info on symptoms appearing only applies to hsv1 genitally from oral to genital contact.