Can I transmit Herpes to my children through indirect contact?

[missT1985]

I have genital herpes and am worried about secondary transference of the virus to my children through, say, a towel... Hypothetically, if I touched an area where viral shedding was occuring and then touched my child or something else that my child touched can my child acquire the virus through indirect contact? Can the virus (during shedding) be tranferred from, say, your genital area to your eyes or mouth or something from your hands? Any additional info would be greatly appreciated.

[LoveableSass]

I have been diagnosed with hsv 1 for a year now with no symptoms. Have a 3 month old that loves affection but I am afraid to kiss, change her diaper, let her touch my face, hug, or even have her lay in bed with me to watch tv. Plus, I know Id gotten it from my husband because I'd previously tested negative for all stds but one cold day he came home from work complaining of itching & burning of the lips which subsequently revealed a cold sore. After it healed & I'd gotten retested a few months later, I am told that I have hsv 1. I had a major breakdown & blamed him as he is my only partner but he denies it & goes to get tested & says he's negative with no formal proof to say that he is indeed negative. Help on can I kiss, hug, change her diapers, bathe, & have her lay on my pillow with no symptoms? Can I kiss my husband without him possibly passing it on to her if he truly doesn't have it? If I have a pimple on my nose & it pops, can the hsv 1 spread through the pimple's secretion? How can I wash my face without transmission despite not ever having an outbreak?

[missyLee5150]

I'm a 15 year old virgin and my mom has herpes and I am very scared me and my sister could get them from using the same towel. I asked my doctor about it and she did confirm that it is possible. She told me to watch for painful red bumps. I have been freaking out ever since. I confronted my mom about the possibility of spreading them to us and she didn't seem to care, she told me it was none of my business. I feel completely alone on this. Yesterday I noticed a red bump down there and it hurt. I broke down and cried for along time...keep in mind I'm not one to show my emotions...I have set up a doctors app and I am very nervous. And to think my 7 year old sister could end up with the same problem scares me even more.

[love2ly]

honey it is ok just go get her tested before jumping to conclusions. the dr will understand your concern. i have an almost 6 year old girl and i also have been diagnosed when i was pregnant with her with hsv2. i worry everyday and i also am careful. just try to cope and stay strong for her please! she needs her mother and she needs a strong mother the rest of her life. this is not worth her losing her mommy. i hope everything is ok now but please reply and keep me updated. i will pray for you and your daughter.

[peevedmom]

I caught this disease 4 years ago from a scumbag boyfriend who cheated on me all the time. Only I got it on my mouth. I only had 1 outbreak when I first got it and then never again until now. I had a 6 year old at the time who is 10 now. I was super careful during the first outbreak so she wouldn't catch it and then I didn't have to worry about it again since then. It is only she and I so we share everything, drinks, towels, she steals my lipstick, etc. Well this time when I first started getting the sores on my mouth, of course I was super careful again about sharing drinks, etc. Then one day she got into my purse and put on my lipstick that I had used while I had a sore. Next thing I knew, she came down sick with flu like symptoms and now she has blister-like sores on her face, her chest and her lower back. I want to think they are eczema but the ones on her face, close to her mouth really make me think herpes, especially since she got sick before hand. I've never heard of getting it anywhere other than your lips and genital region but I'm pretty sure she has. I am very, very depressed about it too. I ruined her love life before she could ever have one. We all know girls have enough to compete with while looking for a mate and now I gave her another huge obstacle. I feel suicidal. I hate myself. My need to have a boyfriend and sex ruined her life.

[gracefromHHP]

this is an old post. please start a new post of your own with any questions.

thanks!

grace

[punkypeter]

I've had HSV2 for a decade. I've had two kids, both by c-section. One is 3, the other is 1 year old. The older one is fine (as of yet). The younger one had her first genital herpes outbreak when she was 10 months old. It flipped us out. Neither one of us had had an outbreak from which we could have passed it to her (and it seems somewhere between highly unlikely and impossible to even imagine a circumstance in which we could have passed it to her genitals somehow). No one else is around her who could have possibly exposed her. I did not have an outbreak during my pregnancy. I did have outbreaks during the 3rd trimester of my first pregnancy, but I took a lot of valtrex becuase I was hoping to have a natural birth. With my second baby, I knew I would have a c-section so I wasn't taking a lot of valtrex because I didn't want to needlessly expose her to a drug if I was having a c-section anyway.

I'm coming to the conclusion she was most likely born with it, though she had no visible outbreaks (thank god) at birth. I've read so many different things about HSV transmission in general and during pregnancy, and been told things by doctors with such confidence that they were a "given." However, I'm beginning to think that the "facts" as are known about HSV transmission from mother to child are not as clear as they are portrayed to be. I believe the transmission of HSV is something that is still not yet fully understood. Partially becuase of the fact that so many people can be exposed to it and carry it without having/ long before having an outbreak.

My children are my world and I love them more than anything. If I had know that I could be passing this on to them, I might not have wanted to risk exposing them. People make light of HSV by saying oh 1 in 3 people have it, but if you have it, you either choose to live in denial and deceive your loved ones until you likely eventually give it to them, or you seek out another person who has it so that you will never have to be in the position of betraying and contaminating someone who you love. There are websites for that, but its a limiting way to live your life. It is a life-changing disease. There are worse things; my daughter could have HIV or another disease. But it crushes us to know that we caused this limitation on her innocent life, with so much stigma and shame attached to it. She will find someone to love, but the odds are they will resent her for it and/or she will accept less than what she should in a partner. Undoubtedly she will suffer additional anguish and heartbreak because of this.

And I suppose the odds of my son making it another 15 years without getting HSV from one of the three of us are rather slim....if he doesn't already carry it without symptoms. We are grief-stricken that we've hurt the people we love most in this world.