HSV 1 possibility/testing

[vize]

Hi, so I've posted a few times in the free herpes community forum and received great information and reassurance from grace.  I'd like if you can check out my latest post regarding jock itch, so I do not have to re-post it here.  In December 09 I tested negative via blood test for HSV1 and 2.  I did the test 1.5 months after being in a relationship with a girl who told me she had genital HSV1 and during the 1.5-2 months we were having sex almost every day, using a condom always, I was receiving unprotected oral sex from her, and with no outbreaks. She told me she had herpes back when the relationship started before we had sex but she wasn't sure what type and she told me she hadn't had an outbreak since the culture swab confirmed it was herpes in Oct 08.  I told her to get a blood test, she did, and it came back positive for HSV1, negative for HSV2.  She told me she's never had a cold sore so I assume it is genital HSV1.  Is that a safe assumption?  So basically a good 1.5 months we've had sex almost every day using methods I just described, and I decided to randomly get tested in December 09(1.5-2 months after first encounter) which yielded my negative results.  Never had any traditional herpes lesions or outbreaks at the time, just a small flesh colored, painless, non-itching bump that the doctor brushed off as being an ingrown hair.  Since that time we've continued to have frequent sex, etc. and about a month ago I had what was described in the post with grace about jock itch.  First, do you also concur that it was jock itch?  Even though the itching is gone it kind of looks like there's still a slight crack in the skin along the lower crease of the groin before it becomes lateral to the perineum.  I just got another blood test for HSV 1 and 2 today, waiting for results.  If negative, should I not worry anymore?  I've read in other posts that people should wait 4 months from last possible exposure to be certain, but that's just so long from now!

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

The top, near where the scrotum starts from the body

[fc_hat]

What exactly do you men by "top" of the scrotum.  

I've read elsewhere that HSV on the scrotum was "rare"; is it not?

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

The top of the scrotum is also vulnerable to acquisition of herpes as well as any part of the penis that isn't covered with a condom.  But outbreaks, after first infection, can occur any where in the boxer shorts area, as the virus will live in the sacral nerve group that supplies nerves to this whole area, and the virus can travel on any of those nerves.

Terri
author of "The Good News about the Bad News" available at amazon.com

[vize]

Yes, that helps.  I was also wanting to clarify, since she will asymptomatically shed only from her genital region (labia, cervix, perineum, anus) then theoretically I should only get an outbreak in areas that come into contact with those areas, correct?  Since I use a condom I should only get an outbreak at the very base of my penis that is not covered by the condom, or on my scrotum, since it sometimes rubs against her genital region?  So basically I shouldn't really be worried about my pubic hair region or my groin region since that only hits her buttocks or stomach?  I also wanted to add that she told me her outbreak was confined to both sides of her minor labia as well as the inside of her major labia. Thanks for your help.

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

yes, that sounds like the way a fungal infection of the groin presents (jock itch).  

If your partner had a positive, untyped herpes swab test in 08, then recently tested positive for HSV 1 only by antibody test, that means she has HSV 1 genital infection, yes.  HSV 1 shed infrequently from the genital area and recurs infrequently in that location.  However, it isn't zero shedding or recurrences, so there is a chance she could infect you through intercourse.  If you continue to test negative for both types, she might want to consider taking daily antiviral therapy to reduce the risk of infecting you.  

As long as you continue to have sex, the timing of the antibody testing will be a moving target; that is, it can take up to four months to become positive, and that applies to every time you have sex.  

I would also suggest to you that since 56% of the population has HSV 1, the chances are good that if you move on to a different sexual partner, they will also be infected with HSV 1, and oral HSV 1, which is more common, has a higher recurrence and shedding rate.  

Does that help?

Terri

[vize]

Just a quick addition... in the jock itch post to grace I said the rashes were like rings, but I meant to say that they were just circular.  Circular red rashes with the filmy border.