Herpes?

[china1111967]

Dear all,

I posted on this forum about 3 weeks ago, following an unfortunate episode where I feared I may have been exposed to HSV.  Although I had some "tingling" at the time around my mouth, I was otherwise asymptomatic.  I took Zovirax and Valtrex just in case. I ceased taking Valtrex about 2 weeks ago.  

Last night I noticed a red bump at the base of the shaft of my penis (underneath, near the juncture with my scrotum). It was quite small and "pimple like".  It had a pubic hair follicle in it.   About a centimetre away I had what looked like a small area of infection or pus under the skin.  It wasn't raised by itself but when pressure was applied to the surrounding area it became raised.  I pulled the hair follicle out of the raisied one and also squeezed blood & pus from the other spot.  They are both now raised and red.  I have some tingling or more of a "crawling" sensation in my genital area, but this could be as much psychological as it could be physical.  I have some discomfort, but on a pain scale it would be low (2 on a range of 1 to 10).

Does this sound like it could be a HSVII outbreak?

I know I need to go to a doctor to have it diagnosed, however I am travelling with business in a foreign country with poor medical facilities and the doctors that I could go to are aligned to my employer - not an option unfortunately.

All comments and observations are welcome.

Kind regards

[auntiejessi]

If it had a hair in it, its probably infected hair follicles, not herpes.

And please - never pop anything, ok?  That can cause a secondary infection, and who wants that?

Aj

[china1111967]

Thanks Aj,  I had hoped that, but thought that given the number of hair follicles in the area that there was a chance that they could occur together.

What are your thoughts on the pus in the area without any obvious hair follicle.  It did look a little like one of those little follicle dimples, but it was flat to the skin, was notably larger in surface area than a follicle and did contain pus.

Do infected hair follicles occur in groups?  I thought that it was far more likely to have a solitary one, which reinforced my fears.

If it was Herpes, I understand from other threads that if there is blistering that burst blisters are quite painful and that it then takes many days for healing (with scabbing).  Is this correct for the majority of cases?

I take your point on the popping.  I scrubbed my hands immediately after without touching anything, so hopefully i haven't made things worse.

Many thanks

[china1111967]

Hi Aj and Grace,

Just some follow up notes to share.  I had a HerpeSelect HSV2 IGg test and the result came back low positive with a numerical value of 1.67.  I'm going to have a follow-up test in a couple of weeks.

I've always practiced safe sex although my partners have at times come from high risk groups.  I've never had an outbreak (the symptoms above were reviewed by two good dermatologists (one in the country I was visiting and another here at home) and both said - "not herpes").  I have never had a coldsore but I do have herpetic scarring on my cornea.

I had a test of unknown type last year and it was negative, so although that test may not be 100% reliable there is a good chance that if I am positive that I was infected in the last year.

My GP is kind of blase about the whole deal and whilst he is welcome to be so, I'm not. Life goes on I know and if I am confirmed to be positive I will have to deal with my demons.  I have recommenced taking Valtrex on a suppresive basis.

My questions are this:
- I am taking 2x500mg of Valtrex per day.  I read somewhere that 500mg is the suppresive treatment.  Comments? (less would be better because Valtrex is far from cheap)
- With a low positive such as this I understand that there is a slim chance that its a false positive.  Any understanding of what this chance is?
- Could the corneal scarring and other ocular problems, includding having to have my tear ducts reconstructed because of continual low-level eye infections (which I have had for many years and were extensively treated by an Ophthamologist) be caused by HSV2?

Many thanks and thanks for helping to facilitate such a terrific community.

Best rgds

[gracefromHHP]

I'd stop taking valtrex at this point and get a repeat blood test done. The herpes WB or the biokit igg hsv2 test would be the best ones but wait until 4 months since the last possible time of infection to get it done in case this really is a newly acquired infection and you are still in the process of seroconverting.

Herpes eye infections are usually hsv1 in adults.  Even the best blood tests we have now still miss 1 out of every 10 hsv1 infections.  

grace

[china1111967]

Thanks Grace.  

Do newly acquired infections usually mean higher numerical values or is there no correlation?  (the realist in me suspects the latter but the optimist in me would prefer the former)

Is there any data available on the prevalence of false positives and if there is any connection to numerical values beyond the 3.5 threshold I have seen in other threads?

Kind rgds

[china1111967]

ps, my apologies - forgot to ask. Why go off the Valtrex?

[gracefromHHP]

go off the valtrex so that if you get obvious symptoms you can get them cultured. Also we aren't 100% sure just how much suppressive therapy early on in an infection can affect blood test results. Might as well stop it and get faster results right?  also if you don't really have herpes you don't need it anyways.

There can be a high chance of a false positive which is why we always recommend additional testing .

grace

[china1111967]

Makes sense.  Thanks Grace.
Best regards