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Herpes Community
This forum is an un-mediated, patient-to-patient forum for questions and support regarding herpes issues such as: Herpes symptoms and treatments, causes, diagnosis, and herpes in men, tests, telling your spouse or partner.
Herpes Confusions
by fnblloo, Jun 23, 2008 01:19PM
Dear Doctor,
I was in West Africa where almost three weeks ago I had unprotected vaginal intercourse (I am a man) with a local. There was no other form of contact, and I did not notice any blisters or rashes on that parter. I noticed she cleaned herself in a bidet immediately before intercourse, and I urinated and cleaned my genitalia immediately after the encounter, so I'm not sure if that would help inhibit infection in any way. Since then I have been checking myself regularly, and to date physically I have felt fine and seen no Herpes symptoms.
A week after the encounter, I visited my local std specialist in the USA who administered a Chlamydia and Gonorrhea test, both of which turned out to be negative. He did however advise I wait to take an HIV, HIV2 and Herpes test until at least 6 weeks after the encounter. Although he assured me that by then the accuracy HIV test would be in the 99 percentile (still recommending a follow up a few weeks hereafter), if there are no visible Herpes symptoms present the antibody testing from a blood sample at that point would yield only a 70-90% accurate diagnosis. He nonetheless assured me that even though the location of the encounter is considered "higher risk" than in the USA, he still considered me to be at relatively "low risk" for having caught anything (quoting a 1/1000 chance from HIV/HIV2 and 1/3000 chance of Herpes) given the greater difficulty of female to male transmission, the fact that I'm circumcised, and the negative Chlamydia and Gonorrhea test results.
I am in a long term relationship (almost 6 years), have never done anything like this before, and aside from the depression and anxiety I feel for having committed a grave, painful, and dangerous mistake (which I will not go into since this does not seem to be the right forum for this) as a second opinion based on my situation does the doctor's advice sound correct? I guess it's natural I've been obsessing over this, and facing the breadth of often conflicting information available on the web, I just wanted to know if his advice sounds right. For example, would it be premature to get tested four weeks after the encounter as a baseline and follow up two weeks later, or does the doctor's suggested timeline fare better based on current medical advances?
After discussing with my doctor and close friends, I have decided not to tell my partner based on my supposed odds of not being infected vs. the emotional destructiveness passing on this on burden to her until I am absolutely sure I am not healthy. It is a decision I am sticking to with a heavy heart. I have not had sex with my partner since arriving back in USA which is of course putting a strain on our relationship and don't think I can push it much longer. I have decided to put it off at least until I pass the four week mark after the encounter, which I gather is a safer window given most HSV infections whether visible or invisible supposedly happen within 2-20 days of transmission. Until I receive my final and most accurate test results I will be using a condom. Even though I was assured that based on my set of decisions it is the best I can do and it will significantly reduce the risk of anything worse happening out of this terrible situation, I still face serious self-doubt and anxiety.
So here I am doubting myself at every step of the way, and have had a hard time sifting through statistics regarding the chances of HSV infections via unprotected female to male transmission, timelines for accurate anti-body blood sample testing (and effectiveness rates), and the chances of infection transmission from protected male to female intercourse.
Thanks in advance for providing such important informational services to us out here who feel alone and confused.
Best,
TG
I was in West Africa where almost three weeks ago I had unprotected vaginal intercourse (I am a man) with a local. There was no other form of contact, and I did not notice any blisters or rashes on that parter. I noticed she cleaned herself in a bidet immediately before intercourse, and I urinated and cleaned my genitalia immediately after the encounter, so I'm not sure if that would help inhibit infection in any way. Since then I have been checking myself regularly, and to date physically I have felt fine and seen no Herpes symptoms.
A week after the encounter, I visited my local std specialist in the USA who administered a Chlamydia and Gonorrhea test, both of which turned out to be negative. He did however advise I wait to take an HIV, HIV2 and Herpes test until at least 6 weeks after the encounter. Although he assured me that by then the accuracy HIV test would be in the 99 percentile (still recommending a follow up a few weeks hereafter), if there are no visible Herpes symptoms present the antibody testing from a blood sample at that point would yield only a 70-90% accurate diagnosis. He nonetheless assured me that even though the location of the encounter is considered "higher risk" than in the USA, he still considered me to be at relatively "low risk" for having caught anything (quoting a 1/1000 chance from HIV/HIV2 and 1/3000 chance of Herpes) given the greater difficulty of female to male transmission, the fact that I'm circumcised, and the negative Chlamydia and Gonorrhea test results.
I am in a long term relationship (almost 6 years), have never done anything like this before, and aside from the depression and anxiety I feel for having committed a grave, painful, and dangerous mistake (which I will not go into since this does not seem to be the right forum for this) as a second opinion based on my situation does the doctor's advice sound correct? I guess it's natural I've been obsessing over this, and facing the breadth of often conflicting information available on the web, I just wanted to know if his advice sounds right. For example, would it be premature to get tested four weeks after the encounter as a baseline and follow up two weeks later, or does the doctor's suggested timeline fare better based on current medical advances?
After discussing with my doctor and close friends, I have decided not to tell my partner based on my supposed odds of not being infected vs. the emotional destructiveness passing on this on burden to her until I am absolutely sure I am not healthy. It is a decision I am sticking to with a heavy heart. I have not had sex with my partner since arriving back in USA which is of course putting a strain on our relationship and don't think I can push it much longer. I have decided to put it off at least until I pass the four week mark after the encounter, which I gather is a safer window given most HSV infections whether visible or invisible supposedly happen within 2-20 days of transmission. Until I receive my final and most accurate test results I will be using a condom. Even though I was assured that based on my set of decisions it is the best I can do and it will significantly reduce the risk of anything worse happening out of this terrible situation, I still face serious self-doubt and anxiety.
So here I am doubting myself at every step of the way, and have had a hard time sifting through statistics regarding the chances of HSV infections via unprotected female to male transmission, timelines for accurate anti-body blood sample testing (and effectiveness rates), and the chances of infection transmission from protected male to female intercourse.
Thanks in advance for providing such important informational services to us out here who feel alone and confused.
Best,
TG
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You've posted this in 3 forums now. Pick one and stick with it.
grace