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Oral hsv 2
Recently diagnosed with hsv 2 oral. Lesion appeared on tongue a few days after performing oral sex. Swabbed at gum clinic and hsv 2 positive. How likely am I to suffer recurrences and also how likely to transfer to someone via kissing etc? Would it need to be a passionate kiss or could it transfer to my kids or something if I kiss them?
Best Answer
you would've had symptoms within 3 weeks of the encounter genitally/anally if you had contracted it there also. sounds like the protected anal sex protected you :)
Thanks grace. Appreciate all the time etc given to answering this thread. That goes to others as well earlier. Much appreciated and very helpful. / insightful.
Grace. Sorry to keep bothering you but I have another question - Further reading indicates oral hsv2 likely to be in conjunction with initial genital infection. Iv not had any signs down there. My exposure was largely oral but some insertive anal protected.
If I had genitally would I have genital signs by now / with initial oral ob or could I have asymptomatic genital infection?
If I had genitally would I have genital signs by now / with initial oral ob or could I have asymptomatic genital infection?
most people don't even get a recurrence which is why I don't even bother saying that any more.
Hi grace - one final piece in addition to the above for clarity if you could be so kind (sorry...)
Earlier I asked about how often I might expect recurrences. You said no data however in archives I found you stated this ..
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Herpes/Oral-HSV2/show/545162
It is reassuring but have you changed your view since posting this?
Earlier I asked about how often I might expect recurrences. You said no data however in archives I found you stated this ..
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Herpes/Oral-HSV2/show/545162
It is reassuring but have you changed your view since posting this?
Grace - thank you so much for your time and responses. To summarise and put a line under once and for all.
Ohsv2 very unlikely to recur or shed. As long as no sign or ob then ok to live as per normal / before as risk of passing very low via kissing gf etc.
Ohsv2 likely the "best" type to get in terms of lowest likelihood of recurring or passing on?
You state no risk of passing through pecks but hsv1 is passed that way to many children? Are the mechanics of how ohsv2 is passed different? Is that way ohsv2 is so rare despite prevalence of oral sex? Or is it that it just generally doesn't like the oral area?
Ohsv2 very unlikely to recur or shed. As long as no sign or ob then ok to live as per normal / before as risk of passing very low via kissing gf etc.
Ohsv2 likely the "best" type to get in terms of lowest likelihood of recurring or passing on?
You state no risk of passing through pecks but hsv1 is passed that way to many children? Are the mechanics of how ohsv2 is passed different? Is that way ohsv2 is so rare despite prevalence of oral sex? Or is it that it just generally doesn't like the oral area?
actually it's well worth getting any recurrences cultured to confirm hsv2. you can't just assume everything oral is hsv2 related.
we do have a few oral shedding studies that we use for oral hsv2 shedding stats. http://sti.bmj.com/content/80/4/272.full is one of them.
we do have a few oral shedding studies that we use for oral hsv2 shedding stats. http://sti.bmj.com/content/80/4/272.full is one of them.
Iv had initial one cultured. So I know what it is. I am assuming based on feedback in here and a bit of reading that recur is very unlikely / rare etc. What is this based on if numbers are so small? Just need a bit more info than unlikely / rare / uncommon. Etc it must be based on something? Surely it can't just be an assumption based on the fact ohsv2 is rare so therefore recurrences are rare?
we really don't have info on that the number is so small.
should you get an actual oral lesion, best to have it cultured within 48 hours of its appearance to confirm.
should you get an actual oral lesion, best to have it cultured within 48 hours of its appearance to confirm.
Hi. Sorry to ask another question - but I am fearful I am starting a recurrent ob, as soon as my tongue has cleared up. Tingling and raw under nose for last 24 hours out of no where. Now I took some comfort from the fact recurring hsv 2 orally was "rare" "uncommon" "unlikely" etc. Can anyone actually provide some hard medical / scientific numbers to back this up. Ie how many (percentage) of ohsv2 actually recur? And when they are recurrent, how often (per year)?
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
it takes awhile for the skin to heal. you aren't still contagious at this point. also odds are you are really paying close attention to your entire oral area at this point too which makes things more noticeable to you.
no reason to think hiv from this. if the sweats continue for more than a month, follow up on them. meanwhile do what mom always told you to do - eat your veggies ( and drink lots of fluids to keep your body well hydrated ).
no reason to think hiv from this. if the sweats continue for more than a month, follow up on them. meanwhile do what mom always told you to do - eat your veggies ( and drink lots of fluids to keep your body well hydrated ).
Hi grace thanks a lot for reading my case and replying. I do have a couple of questions though if I may?
The ob was minor. A few tiny blisters on tongue. But it has now been over 3 weeks and although not visible it hasn't entirely cleared away. I can still feel it on there. Not sore but nuisance value as I just want to move on and put behind me. Does this seem a long time or would you expect it to take a while to clear?
Also a couple days after ob flared up I got a very sore throat and ran a fever, had night sweats. Now antibiotics cleared up the throat in a few days and is now ok but 3 weeks on the night sweats are still there? Could these Symptoms be linked to the recent herpes infection or are they likely seperate bacterial infection? I was also frightened of hiv but hiv forum advised no risk.
Any input / thought be appreciated. Thanks.
The ob was minor. A few tiny blisters on tongue. But it has now been over 3 weeks and although not visible it hasn't entirely cleared away. I can still feel it on there. Not sore but nuisance value as I just want to move on and put behind me. Does this seem a long time or would you expect it to take a while to clear?
Also a couple days after ob flared up I got a very sore throat and ran a fever, had night sweats. Now antibiotics cleared up the throat in a few days and is now ok but 3 weeks on the night sweats are still there? Could these Symptoms be linked to the recent herpes infection or are they likely seperate bacterial infection? I was also frightened of hiv but hiv forum advised no risk.
Any input / thought be appreciated. Thanks.
Oral hsv2 does occur. In the vast majority of cases, it rarely reoccurs and rarely sheds. At this point, no reason to think that you aren't one of the majority. There are some documented case studies of folks with oral hsv2 having ob's more frequently but only way to know if you are one of those is if you get symptoms reoccurring and get them cultured again like you did initially. no recurrence of symptoms then I really wouldn't worry much.
so what do you do now? well when you have oral symptoms of anything, avoid performing oral sex on a partner. Anything going on in the oral area could in theory trigger shedding but it's still unlikely to occur. Just err on the side of caution.
as far as kissing your kids, I would not hesitate to do so whenever you don't have oral symptoms. We don't kiss our kids in the way it takes to transmit oral herpes to them easily. It takes romantic type kisses to transmit herpes to any child over the age of a few months, not the pecks we give them.
so what do you do now? well when you have oral symptoms of anything, avoid performing oral sex on a partner. Anything going on in the oral area could in theory trigger shedding but it's still unlikely to occur. Just err on the side of caution.
as far as kissing your kids, I would not hesitate to do so whenever you don't have oral symptoms. We don't kiss our kids in the way it takes to transmit oral herpes to them easily. It takes romantic type kisses to transmit herpes to any child over the age of a few months, not the pecks we give them.
Terri warren -
Yes, the research we have about oral HSV 2 is in subjects who have HSV 2 genitally as well. So that’s why my numbers to you are not consistent with the literature. I am not aware of any literature about the person who has HSV 2 orally only and shedding rates. It is true that HSV 2 does not like the mouth and certainly does recur less often there and sheds less often from there.
Yes, the research we have about oral HSV 2 is in subjects who have HSV 2 genitally as well. So that’s why my numbers to you are not consistent with the literature. I am not aware of any literature about the person who has HSV 2 orally only and shedding rates. It is true that HSV 2 does not like the mouth and certainly does recur less often there and sheds less often from there.
Certain it showed as hsv 2 positive from the swab result. Although socially less accepted (hsv 2) if I am going to get one orally only then it sounds like 2 is the better of the two?
Terri warren told me all data on hsv2 orally is when genital also present. So there is little data avail when sole hsv2 oral infection.
Do you have any info on recurring frequency?
Contacting the partner not possible.
Terri warren told me all data on hsv2 orally is when genital also present. So there is little data avail when sole hsv2 oral infection.
Do you have any info on recurring frequency?
Contacting the partner not possible.
No, I don't have a medical background, I just have herpes!
Look up studies on HSV2 shedding and you will find some that cover oral HSV2.
Did the GUM clinic truly type the HSV sample? Or make an assumption? Have you spoken with the partner concerned?
HSV2 is very weak outside the genital area, it is tuned very acutely to the nature of nerves in this region. It finds it difficult to activate in other nerve ganglions around the body. HSV1 seem to travel much better. (As you can tell, this is why I'm urging you to be sure this is HSV2 and not HSV1).
It is virtually impossible for you to infect someone without a lesion. Genitals would be more at risk than mouths. Adult mouths have seemingly more protection against HSV than genitals and many have HSV1 already.
I do not understand your comment about oral HSV2 when genital is present. This happens so rarely as to make a study of it extremely difficult to undertake. You just wouldn't find enough participants. I think I do know the study you are referring to though where they swabbed mouths and genitals. I don't believe there were many if any that swabbed positive for both oral and genital for HSV2.
Look up studies on HSV2 shedding and you will find some that cover oral HSV2.
Did the GUM clinic truly type the HSV sample? Or make an assumption? Have you spoken with the partner concerned?
HSV2 is very weak outside the genital area, it is tuned very acutely to the nature of nerves in this region. It finds it difficult to activate in other nerve ganglions around the body. HSV1 seem to travel much better. (As you can tell, this is why I'm urging you to be sure this is HSV2 and not HSV1).
It is virtually impossible for you to infect someone without a lesion. Genitals would be more at risk than mouths. Adult mouths have seemingly more protection against HSV than genitals and many have HSV1 already.
I do not understand your comment about oral HSV2 when genital is present. This happens so rarely as to make a study of it extremely difficult to undertake. You just wouldn't find enough participants. I think I do know the study you are referring to though where they swabbed mouths and genitals. I don't believe there were many if any that swabbed positive for both oral and genital for HSV2.
I imagine it applies to the area reached by the trigemenal nerve ganglion, which is basically the front half sphere of your skull stopping in front of the ears.
I have little to no knowledge of UK testing for herpes. My understanding though was that the free service in the GUM clinic tested only for the presence of HSV, meaning it could be 1 or 2. Given it is a GUM clinic that focuses mainly on STIs of the genital region then they may automatically assume HSV2 rather than subtyping the original culture sample. 12 days though is enough to explicitly type a sample, hence if you explicitly saw HSV1 negative and HSV2 positive, detected or isolated then that is what it is.
Have you spoken to the person who you performed oral sex on?
The good news is that oral HSV2 is not very infectious at all. Most tests that involve swabbing of people with oral HSV2 do not detect shedding at all such that the estimate of about 1% of days in a year when it does shed is a rough estimate that is probably high. Most of those days will involve too little of the virus to be infectious such that practically you need sores to be infectious.
I would still confirm the diagnosis with blood testing after 12 weeks and maybe confirm that the partner is HSV2 positive.
Have you spoken to the person who you performed oral sex on?
The good news is that oral HSV2 is not very infectious at all. Most tests that involve swabbing of people with oral HSV2 do not detect shedding at all such that the estimate of about 1% of days in a year when it does shed is a rough estimate that is probably high. Most of those days will involve too little of the virus to be infectious such that practically you need sores to be infectious.
I would still confirm the diagnosis with blood testing after 12 weeks and maybe confirm that the partner is HSV2 positive.
They swabbed for both and that was what returned positive. Didn't ask to many questions of the dr. Why you ask - Are you able to provide some insight into hsv2 when oral?
Was the test positive explicitly for HSV2, or did it say HSV detected or isolated?
Why you ask that? 12 days after swab. Saw on screen in gym clinic sat with dr going through results. Really appreciate some answers to my shedding and transferring questions from an expert please?
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You are reading content posted in the Herpes Community
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
