How likely is herpes?

[verso]

First I should mention that I am twenty years old and I am male. Less than one week ago I received unprotected oral sex. I know that the last time she -- the girl who performed oral sex on me -- had been tested for STDs by her gynecologist the test results were negative. (Although I imagine that she had not been tested for herpes other than just a quick visual inspection by her gynecologist.) I know that since then she has performed unprotected oral sex on another man and has also engaged in sex (unprotected oral sex and protected intercourse, I believe) with yet another man. So since her last test she has had sex with two other men before me. Keep in mind that I received unprotected oral sex from her literally the day after she had slept with the second guy, and almost a week after she performed unprotected oral sex on the first guy since her STD test. (I know, I know -- not smart at all.)

The next day I felt fine but thought that I would check my penis for any abnormalities. On the left side of my penis on the shaft were four very small, pinkish spots. They weren't raised above the skin at all and they didn't hurt, and I might not have even noticed them at all had I not thought to check my penis more carefully. I stretched the skin on my penis to get a better look and sort of scratched the them a little with my fingernail -- when I did this a small ring of dry, "flaky" skin would sort of circle each spot. (Imagine a mosquito bite that you scratch at and the skin surrounding the bite sort of peels, pulls up and surrounds the bite.) I noticed these pinkish spots the day after the unprotected oral sex -- that was 5 days ago.

Today the pinkish spots are almost gone, although if I run my fingernail over the skin where they were once more visible a circle of dry skin still marks where each one once was, although even that observation is growing less and less noticeable. (And again, the spots are really small and so too is the circle of "flaky" skin that circles each one if I run my fingernail over the skin.)

I guess that my questions are as follows:

1.) How likely is it for HSV-2 to infect the mouth? (I have seen conflicting data, but I guess that it might be possible for this girl to have been infected with oral HSV-2 and then have passed it onto my genitals. No?)
2.) How likely is it for oral HSV-1 to infect a partner's genitals? How likely is it for oral HSV-1 to infect a partner's genitals when there is no cold sore in or around the mouth?
3.) How likely is it for a person to become infected with genital herpes through oral sex (HSV-1 or HSV-2)? (I have seen statistics online that suggest almost half of all cases of genital herpes infections are caused by oral sex.)
4.) How likely is it that I would see the symptoms (4 small pinkish spots on the shaft of my penis) of genital herpes (HSV-1 or HSV-2) the next day?
5.) How likely is it that a primary herpes outbreak would consist of 4 small, pinkish spots that are painless on the shaft of my penis that then start to go away almost immediately in the next couple of days?
6.) How likely is it that these symptoms of herpes (the pink spots) would not be accompanied by any itching, tingling, or pain?
7.) What else can these small pink spots be if not herpes?
8.) Should I have myself tested for herpes?

Thanks so much in advance!

- Steven

[daisy315]

If you were infected with HSV1 during childhood or from a previous partner it would return a positive result at this stage,however if it were to return a negative result it could be that a week is too soon for the test to show anything regarding whether or not you were infected by your last partner and for that reason may turn out to be a false negative,so waiting a bit longer would be advisable to get a definative result,because you could have got it Orally from being kissed as a child or either Orally or Genitally from kissing and oral sex once you became sexually active as an adult it's difficult to say...... on the other hand you may not be infected at all ......
Some tests are able to tell if it's a recent infection although I'm not sure how this is achieved you might want to ask that question should your result return positive.
In the absence of visible symptoms Genitally or Orally I imagine it would be difficult to know exactly where the infection took place.

Daisy    

[verso]

Thanks so much for the reply, Daisy! I want to get tested, but I am afraid that I might have been infected with oral herpes simplex virus 1 and never have known. If that's the case, then although my test might be negative for HSV-2, it could still be positive for HSV-1 and I wouldn't know whether HSV-1 is genital or oral.

For example, my father has always had cold sores. How do I know that I wasn't given HSV-1 when I was a kid from my father? I won't know whether or not the HSV-1 is oral (from my father when I was a kid or otherwise) or genital (from this girl or from a past partner).

Do you think that it is still better for me to get tested? How soon do you think the antibodies will show up? I plan on getting tested this coming Friday, which means that it will be about a week and a half since the experience that might have exposed me to herpes. Is that enough time for the antibodies to show up? Would it be better if perhaps the test comes back negative, and then I retest in a few weeks? I don't know what to do!

Thanks again!

[daisy315]

1.) How likely is it for HSV-2 to infect the mouth? (I have seen conflicting data, but I guess that it might be possible for this girl to have been infected with oral HSV-2 and then have passed it onto my genitals. No?)

It's possible she had Oral HSV2 but pretty unlikely as it's not a common condition ....

2.) How likely is it for oral HSV-1 to infect a partner's genitals? How likely is it for oral HSV-1 to infect a partner's genitals when there is no cold sore in or around the mouth?

If a person has Oral HSV1 and performs unprotected Oral sex on someone the virus can be passed to the genitals with or without the presence of a sore.

3.) How likely is it for a person to become infected with genital herpes through oral sex (HSV-1 or HSV-2)? (I have seen statistics online that suggest almost half of all cases of genital herpes infections are caused by oral sex.)

Quite likely with HSV1 not so likely with HSV2 since Oral HSV2 is not as common as Oral HSV1  

4.) How likely is it that I would see the symptoms (4 small pinkish spots on the shaft of my penis) of genital herpes (HSV-1 or HSV-2) the next day?

Very unlikely

5.) How likely is it that a primary herpes outbreak would consist of 4 small, pinkish spots that are painless on the shaft of my penis that then start to go away almost immediately in the next couple of days?

Again very unlikely a primary Herpes outbreak would be more significant than a few pink spots it generally takes a few days to a week post exposure for anything noticeable to show up,however it's not impossible as Herpes is a very variable condition and differs from one person to another.

6.) How likely is it that these symptoms of herpes (the pink spots) would not be accompanied by any itching, tingling, or pain?

Not all Herpes symptoms are typically itchy tingly or painful,again it can differ from one person to another.

7.) What else can these small pink spots be if not herpes?

Sweat rash,simple skin blemish thats proabably been there for sometime and you haven't noticed till you started the self exams several times a day and paying way too much attention to your penis.

8.) Should I have myself tested for herpes?

If you feel you are stressing over this then yes if only to put your mind at ease and move on from it,carrying on self examining yourself several times a day will drive you nuts and isn't a healthy practise on a daily basis,skin blemishes and eruptions can be caused by many things it's all part of life and not always indicative of an STD don't let your mind become overactive on this get tested and lay it to rest it's that simple .....

Daisy

[verso]

I should mention that there are also a few small pink spots on the right side of my penis shaft as well. (I read that sores often appear on both sides of the genitals.)