Before we go any farther with this, I would like you to find out what the index values were on both of those tests that you had done, to rule out false positives. Can you get that for me please?
Terri
Hi Terri,
The HSV2 was only listed as <.90, the HSV1 was 1.24 from the second test at 3 weeks.
A little more information, no discharge from my penis and no pain or burning during urination.
You would make my whole year if you told me it looks like a false positive. I am planning on going in for another blood test this week which should confirm it one way or the other, shouldn't it? It will be 3 months since exposure.
This is a low index value, yes, and the chances of it being a false positive are reasonable. We don't have specific data on the rates of false positives for HSV 1 like we do for HSV 2, however. It will not be useful for you to repeat the same test you had done before because if it is a false positive, you may encounter the same results again.
Even if your HSV 1 test is truly positive, you cannot know for certain that this is genital. Yes, that is true even if you are experiencing symptoms genitally.
Terri
Thanks Terri,
I guess I know as much about my situation as I can know, no more tests to run. So assuming I have oral HSV 1, here are my questions.
I know there is a chance of spreading this without any symptoms / cold sores but where can I spread it? Kissing or oral sex seems to be a definite possibility. What about kissing other parts of my gf's body? Face, neck, shoulder, breasts, anus?
Can I transmit this to my girlfriend via my hands? If so, only to the mouth, genitals or anus?
Assuming I don't have it genitally now, is there a point in time at which I don't have to worry about getting it there because the antibodies in my body will take care of it, either from myself or someone else? What about getting herpes in my eyes? That's the part that really freaks me out.
Brian
If you only have oral herpes, you can only transmit virus from your mouth, not your hands. Once you have a nicely established immune response, probably four months or so, it is highly unlikely you will get this in a new place on your body.
The vulnerable parts of her body are mouth and genitals.
Terri
Thank you Terri. I appreciate your help.