Genital Herpangina

Dear Doctor,
About three months ago, my boyfriend and I were both diagnosed with herpangina. we had oral sex while we were sick (bad idea) and several days later i noticed an outbreak. I went to the doctor and did a herpes culture which came back as HSV 1 positive. Is it possible to have genital herpangina? should i tell people i have an STD? my outbreak looked like little holes. they never formed anything over them, nor did they scab over. is there a more acurate test i can have done to be more specific? it has been three months and i recently noticed another little hole looking thing, but only one. Any advise would be great, this has caused me a great deal of emotional anxiety.

[gracefromHHP]

Herpangina is different from herpes simplex virus.  It's a different virus.  

Was your herpes culture of the oral area or the genital area?

grace

[maya111]

coxsackieviruses and enteroviruses can cause herpangina but usually it occurs in the mouth but can occur in the hands and feet but since our mouth tissue is simular to our genital tissue its rare but i wouldnt doubt it not ever occcuring. but with all of thses viruses even strep/adeno there is no antibiotic you can only take things like motrin etc.. to soothe any symptoms. herpangina is not an std but it is contagious in respritory droplets and stool. have you had a polio vaccine?Also like grace asked how did your doc dignose you?also i would make an appointment to see an Otolaryngologist who speecializes in coxsackieviruses and enteroviruses like someone at a childrens hospital because it mostly happens in children so i dunno strange lol hope tha helps

[soccergirl1]

She diagnosed the herpangina orally, but took a culture genitally. Will i still be able to spread herpangina genitally?

[gracefromHHP]

herpangina is not a herpes virus. You do not have herpangina genitally - you have hsv1 genitally.   there is a big difference.

  Has your partner been tested to know his own hsv1 status?

grace

[soccergirl1]

Yes, he does not have HSV 1. and neither did i had never had a cold sore or anything. i haven't gotten anything since. I saw a STD doctor and he said herpangina could make a hsv 1 test postive, because the viruses are closely related. i know i contracted whatever it was simultaniously because they both appeared at the same time, and dissapeared at the same time.

[gracefromHHP]

no, herpangina will not cause you to have a + lesion culture genitally for hsv1.  You stated that you had a lesion culture done on the genitals that came back as hsv1+.  Is that correct?  

So either you had hsv1 genitally prior to meeting your current partner and this was just a recurrence that you had or your partner really does have hsv1 orally ( most folks who have it do not get obvious cold sores to know it ) and he transmitted it to your genital area thru oral sex. Even the best herpes blood tests we have still do not pick up on hsv1 infections 100% of the time.

The other scenerio is that you were both misdiagnosed as having herpangina and it actually was a hsv1 oral infection in both of you that was brand spankin new and your partner transmitted it to your genital area around the same time.

grace