HSV 2 Incubation and Transmission

Hello,

I was diagnosed with HSV 2 approximately 23yrs ago. I was married for 17yrs and never transmitted the virus to my husband (he has been tested). I have since been divorced and have had partners the past 2.5yrs in which we had sexual intercourse frequently without the use of condoms. None of these partners contracted HSV 2 from me. I have not had a breakout of a lesion in 2yrs and when I did have them it was only 1 episode yearly. In addition, I started taking 1g Valtrex daily for suppressive therapy 1.5yrs ago.

I was recently contacted by a man that I had sexual intercourse with once about 3mos ago without the use of a condom. He is telling me that a few days after he had sexual intercourse with me he had sexual intercourse with another woman. He is informing me that she then became positive for herpes, I am assuming genital. He claims that to this day he does not have herpes himself. He believes that he transferred herpes from me to her without actually contracting herpes himself. In my knowledge of this virus, you cannot just be the vector of transmission without being positive yourself, correct??? Also I have read research that states the incubation period is about 7days. Would it be possible for a person to contract herpes and be able to shed the virus to someone else within a few days after exposure to it??

Thank you for your insight and education in this situation!

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

Interesting.  There could be several things at play here.
1.  You did infect him and he has not yet become positive by antibody test (it takes time).
2.  The other woman could have had herpes for years and didn't know it and broke out after having sex with him.  If she had a negative antibody test for the type she swabbed positive for, that would be her first infection.  Don't know if all that went on.
3.  If he has not been tested, and you didn't mention that, he could have had herpes for years and didn't know it.
4.  She could have HSV 1 infection from him giving her oral sex and it has nothing to do with your herpes.

So do you know you have HSV 2 or do you just know that you have genital herpes?  Important question, given the lack of outbreaks you experience, even prior to suppression.

Maybe you can get me a bit more information about the testing done for both these people and their histories if you have them?

People can come down with symptoms of herpes 2-10 days after infection, yes, that's possible.

Terri

[dma2009]

Hello,

Thank you for your time.

I have HSV2 I am assuming, I was swabbed 23yrs ago, never had a blood test. Now I am starting to wonder about that now that you mentioned it. I contracted it through sexual intercourse though. Could the culture tests that many years ago distinguish between HSV1 and HSV2? I have never had a cold sore either that I can recall.

This incident was 3 months ago now. How long does it take for a blood test to be positive with herpes? I would think he would show positive by now. He claims he himself has not become positive, but that he passed it from me to her without he himself being infected.

To be honest, I am not sure that any of what he claims is the truth, and when I pushed him on details and gave him facts as you have in this email his response was 'Don't worry about it'.

It all just doe not make sense to me that he is coming back 3mos later with this information when we were friends for a long time.

I get that there is always a chance, but I know it is low with me. I am wondering also about the research showing the more years you have had herpes, the odds are even less that you would transmit the virus. What are your thoughts on this with me having this for 23yrs?

Thank You for your insight!

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

Its not likely that your swab test was typed back then.  
I'm not buying that he infected the other person from you without him being infected himself.  That's not how it works, assuming there was more than a few minutes between the sexual encounters.  Blood tests can take up to 4 months to become positive, with a rare exception taking up to 6 months.  This all sounds pretty fishy to me, actually.

Terri