How significant is my risk?

[twocool]

I recently fingered a woman who was having a herpes outbreak (not disclosed at the time) and then touched my penis shortly thereafter (within one minute or less). Am I at significant risk for contracting HSV II for this encounter?

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

It isn't that 90% of people that have genital herpes don't have symptoms, it is more often the case that people DO have symptoms, but they don't recognize them as herpetic, nor do their health care providers.  

And I do agree that herpes should be an essential part of STD screening.  There are many reasons this is not routinely done ranging from stigma issues to funding to lack of understanding of the importance of knowing one is infected.  We have a long way to go, suffice to say.

Terri

[nightrocket]

Damn right. One of the largest failings in American medicine and the Center for Disease Control is that Herpes - which is epidemic - is not automatically screened for in a typical STD panel. The net result? The virus remains a dirty secret; a stigma rather than a call to action and raised awareness.

[twocool]

Thank you for your answer Terri, it was extremely helpful in setting my mind at ease.  No, I haven't been tested, even though I would like to be tested!  I live in Canada and one of the very frustrating things is that unless you have a sore that can be swabbed and tested, you cannot "get tested.” Without symptoms, my doctor said all they could do was give me a blood test but that the standard blood tests they offer here does not differentiate between HSV 1 and HSV 2, and I already know/assume that I have HSV 1 because I have had cold sores on my mouth on and off since childhood. I find this extremely frustrating…if 90 per cent of people with genital herpes don’t show symptoms, wouldn’t you think they’d want to have a type-specific blood test readily available to reduce transmission rates? Makes it easy for people to assume they are "fine" when it fact they may not be....

[twocool]

I should add that I have read many posts that said fingering was safe, but also posts that say if you touch sores and then another body part you can spread the virus, so it's confusing...

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

Its confusing because there is no 100% guarantee either way.. However, I would say that putting your finger in the vagina of a woman having a herpes outbreak and then touching your penis within one minutes is low risk for transmission.  Its a question that comes up very frequently.  One should remember that it is not only a matter of virus being present for transmission to occur but also that sufficient quantities of virus must be present, and in this situation, I would seriously doubt that sufficient quantities of herpes virus would be present in this circumstance to infect yourself.

Have you, at some point, been tested for herpes to know that you actually don't have it?  90% of those infected don't know, and traditionally STD screens don't include it.

Terri