Because the dose to slow reactivation of the virus is a completely different thing than the amount of medicine it would take to prevent latency of the virus with first infection.
That's correct.
Terri
Thank you for your reply. I have been tested before for Herpes and have always been negative. Do you think this exposure warrants being tested again?
I wonder why taking Valtrex would affect the test results, but not prevent infection. I suppose it might minimize the immune response by killing some of the virus, but not enough to prevent infection of the ganglia?
Thank you again.
Its difficult to say whether Valtrex, taken the next day, would have any impact on transmission for you. I would guess not, honestly. It probably needs to be taken within hours of contact but we honestly don't know for sure, that study has only been done in mice, not humans.
Have you ever been tested previously to know that you don't already have herpes?
And yes, taking Valtrex over any signficant period of time can interfere with the test results. If you are going to test at some point, I would only take it a week, if at all.
I'm sure you are noticing all genital symptoms that you might have right now because of your worry. A single contact, with a condom, is a low risk experience. If you don't develop any skin changes, I think you can limit your worry.
Terri