Herpes-what are the odds

[dayone]

If I've had unprotected sex with a woman who has herpes, but doesn't show any symptoms, what are the chances of contracting the virus and how long does it take for the symptoms to show?  At this point, I don't see anything visable, but feel I'm possibly convincing myself I have the non-visable signs.  Over a one month period, we had sex about 5 times or so.  Also, can you pass the virus if you've just received it and don't yet have symptoms?  Finally, can I get a test that will tell me for sure if I have it now?

[waringblender]

If your prior partners and you were never tested for HSV-2, you can't really know for certain your previous partners were negative. You will need to wait about 3 months after your last possible exposure to have an accurate HSV test. I wouldn't get too bent out of shape about all of this if I were you.

[dayone]

Was hoping to get just a little more clarification.  Before this recent partner, I had two long term relationships and I'm as positive as possible that they didn't have it then and don't have it now.  Thus, I would have contracted it between the middle of October 2007 and two weeks ago yesterday when was the last time my current partner and I had unprotected sex.  We have since discontinued sexual activity based on several reasons including my concern about contracting the virus and in light of my newfound knowledge base on the situation.  

The biggest concern I currently have is some sensitivity just at the base on the hairline (pubic area) where the penis meets the body and other, not consistent, feelings of slight sensitivity in the head and shaft area of my penis.  It's only been a day or two, but I'm paying more attention to the consistent sensitivity (pubic hairline/body) and the inconsistent sensitivity (shaft/head) due to the recent knowledge I've uncovered.  I don't have any painful urination at this point and don't really notice any visable redness or a rash.  Also, no lesions at this point.

Are you stating that once the discomfort or sensitivity begins, there is a short time before I should encounter other symptoms if I have the virus?

Is the sensitivity or pain that is described in the symptoms a result of lesions only or can it be a precursor to other symptoms?

How likely is it to contract the virus from unprotected sex (5 -7 times) with a female partner that contracted the virus in early 2007 and has only had one original outbreak and didn't appear to any symptoms of an outbreak at the time we had intercourse?

Finally (and not because of the virus), I may be transitioning to a former longterm partner.  Not that we'd have unprotected (or any) sex at this point, but how careful do I need to be and if I did end up contracting the virus from the previous partner, is it possible I could pass the virus on without ever having a visable outbreak at this time?

Thank you very much for all of the insight and information.  I don't want my mistake (and ignorance) to become someone else's problem.  I plan on getting tested as soon as possible.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

that you know your partner has genital herpes is good news, not bad.  Since one in four Americans have genital herpes and only one out of 10 of those knows it, you are now in a good position to sort out your own status and take steps to prevent acquiring infection if you do not already have it.  If you already have it, you will not know whether you got it from this partner (although probably not) or a prior partner.

Let's deal with the facts.  
Most genital herpes is spread through a process called asymptomatic transmission in which the virus is present in small amounts despite the absence of lesions (i.e. on totally normal appearing skin).  Thus a person can get infected through sex with an infected partner in the absence of lesions.  The majority but not all people who get genital herpes do develop lesions when they get the infection so from what you tell me there is not a great concern that you have newly acquired infection from your partner.  I suspect the symptoms you are experiencing, if lesions are not present within 24 hours of their onset, represent anxiety on your part.

Importantly, there are also things you can do to reduce your risk of getting herpes from your partner.  The two major things are that you can always use condoms. Secondly, if she chooses, your partner can take antiviral therapy to reduce both her asymptomatic viral shedding and her chances of passing the infection on to others.  Each of these measures acts independently and together they tremendously reduce the risk of acquiring infection.

Finally, there is a question of whether or not you might already have the infection yourself but not know it (this is quite common).  To sort this out, a gG-based blood test for herpes will be helpful although if it is possible, you will not know how long you have had the infection.

Hope this helps.  EWH