More info needed about HSV-1 false negatives

I’m a 39-year-old bisexual female.  After 5 years of celibacy, I recently took on a male partner who is very sexually active. We used a condom and also had oral sex. Two weeks later, I had a positive culture for genital HSV-1. The genital lesions cleared up about a week ago, and yesterday I started manifesting symptoms that seem similar to an initial oral HSV-1 outbreak.
I have blisters on my tonsils and the back of my throat, a fever and fatigue, but no cold sores yet. I have never had cold sores, and do not think I had oral HSV-1 before contact with this new partner. He says he has never had any HSV-1 symptoms (oral or genital), and was just tested twice for the antibodies. Both tests were negative for HSV, but I know he has oral HSV-1. I’ve had 2 sexual partners in the last 10 years, and he sleeps with more people in a month than I have my whole life. I asked him which test was being used, and he didn’t know. It was through the VA, though, so it’s probably safe to assume that it was the least expensive blood test on the market.

My questions are this:

1. In another post, it was mentioned that up to 20% of people with oral HSV-1 will test negative. Where does this data come from (what is the source of the info)? I need ammunition to convince him, and the other info I’ve found on the internet claims that most tests are 95% or better at determining the presence of antibodies (although less accurate at determining type).

2. Is it possible that the genital HSV-1 ansd/or oral HSV-1 could take 5 years or more to manifest after initial exposure? Could my partner of 5 years ago, who was a woman, have given me both genital and oral herpes, and I just didn’t know it? I never had any symptoms, and this seems highly unlikely.

Thanks.

[daisy315]

Firstly it is possible to have HSV and never experience any symptoms for years,it's not common to have both HSV1 Orally as well as Genitally because once it has established it's chosen site it rarely moves to another part of the body and since HSV1 prefers the oral area it would most likely stay there,however if a person did not have HSV1 at all prior to oral sex it can be passed to the genitals from someone with Oral Herpes which is where it would then cause future outbreaks to be since that is where direct infection took place  .... In short already having Oral HSV1 somehwhat protects against getting it Genitally,however having Oral HSV1 does not protect against getting Genital HSV2 .....

I hope this makes sense,it is a pretty confusing virus and very variable in it's behaviour between one individual and another  ..... not everyone will have identical signs or symptoms ...........

Daisy  

[MadBionicDog]

Thanks Daisy... I realize the fact that I had no prior oral HSV-1 left me more susceptible to genital HSV-1. My immune system is weak at the moment, and it appears as if I got BOTH genital and oral HSV-1 from the same encounter.

My question is this, though - how do I convince this man that he has oral HSV-1? Right now, he sees himself as "clean" and me as "dirty", which is the ultimate irony given our past experiences.

Which is more likely...
1. A recent, promiscuous male partner gave me genital HSV-1 despite testing negative for the virus. OR
2. My female partner of 5 years ago, who also claimed to test negative for STDs, gave me genital HSV-1 and it has been lying dormant in my system for 5 years?

[gracefromHHP]

It really does sound like you recently contracted hsv1 both orally and genitally which isn't all that uncommon but I really can't say that with 100% certainty . You really could've contracted hsv1 orally and/or genitally prior to this and just something triggered a genital recurrence and even another virus coudl be going on in the oral area. It's really not always black and white unfortunately.   Studies show anywhere from 1/4 - 2/3's of folks who contract it genitally, also have contracted it orally too around the same time.  A lesion culture of your oral symptoms would help but I"m guessing that you were put on antivirals for the genital hsv1 infection so odds are that a culture of your oral symptoms would come back negative regardless.  

Even the best blood tests we have do miss 1 out of every 10 hsv1 infections ( 10%, not 20% though some tests miss even more than 20% ).  www.herpesdiagnosis.com has terrific info on testing for herpes as well as the specificity and sensitivity of the most popular tests out there.  I am not sure what testing the VA system uses but you can ask your partner to get a copy of his blood test results to show you if it really matters to you.  

Are you planning on continuing this relationship?

grace

[daisy315]

No one has to be promiscuous to get either Oral Herpes OR Genital Herpes it can be transmitted from a simple friendly kiss or a one time episode of unprotected sex,around 80% of the population have Oral Herpes long before they have ever had a "serious" kiss so it's possible that either or both of your partners had it before meeting you,in which case either could have transmitted it to you,but to have it genitally suggests it's happened later on once you became sexually active ......
As for this guy saying he is "clean" is just ridiculous if he cannot produce paper evidence to back up his claim that he didn't have HSV before meeting you then he's talking rubbish  ..... he's obviously one of those sanctimonious self righteous dude's who have helped create the stigma Gential (genital) Herpes unfortunately continues to carry......  
At the end of the day it doesn't matter who gave you it you have it now and you have to deal with it,worrying what this guys thinks is a waste of your energy and irrelevent at this point in time,I personally wouldn't give him another second of my time if i were you,he's shown his true worth .... Zero!

Daisy

[MadBionicDog]

Thanks Grace, Thanks Daisy...That is helpful. I don't plan on continuing the relationship (which is just sex) until he admits that he has oral herpes. He doesn't want to continue it either, because I might infect him (ain't that funny?). He lives in my basement, so I have to see him every day, though.
I've decided he can just live in his fantasy world and cling to his negative test result, despite the overwhelming evidence that he has HSV-1. He's 56 years old, strong as on ox, and has 5-10 partners a month...Now I don't think it's fair to say that all people who have HSV-1 are promiscuous, but I do believe that those who are promiscuous are at high risk to pick up the virus. It's simple numbers - the more people you kiss, the higher the odds you'll be exposed. Given his age and his history, how could he NOT have it?
Combine this with the fact that my initial genital and oral outbreaks are what the doctors term "severe" and I know that I haven't been carrying this virus for 5 years. I would have antibodies and some protection, but I seem to have no protection, and the virus is absolutely wreaking havoc. My gut tells me this is something new...
I realized last night that the reason I wanted him to admit that he gave me herpes so I wouldn't fell so alone in it. Just coming to that realization helped. I appreciate this board and the people who post here, and know that I am not alone. I think I am going to reach out to some of my friends as well.
Thanks for the help!

[gracefromHHP]

Unless we see his test results, we can't really help you much with his side of things.  Who knows if he was even tested for herpes and if he really was, if he was properly tested for it.  Those things are out of your control and our control here.

That said, it sounds like you are really coming to terms with the whole situation. I'm sure it's difficult seeing this person every single day though.

Hang in there and keep asking questions as you have them :)

grace

[tobenik]

few questions 1.  how long can herpes lay dormant.
2.  my husband has come back with a negative result and i had a primary outbreak.  is the test accurate as i have only had sex with him for seven years.. we went to the doctors together to get the results... he was test for both HSV-1` and HSV-2 - so the question being how accurate is the test.  he take prednisolone tablets... would this affect the results