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HSV 2 from a single counter of oral sex???
Is a herpes culture always correct? In July 2001 I had my first and only "sexual" experience. Up until this point I was a 17 year old virgin in every aspect of the word. That night a boy that I knew from school performed oral sex on me for a few minutes. I felt uncomfortable in the situation and left. A week later I got what I thought were herpes symptoms and went to the doctor. I believe that he did just a culture test and it came back positive for hsv 2. No blood test was every performed. I was devastated!!! This was almost 10 years ago now and I have never had any other outbreak or symptoms of anything. What are the chances of this culture test being wrong? Lately I have been thinking about this diagnosis a lot and I am ready to get some answers. I have also been reading hundreds of posts and websites that say that acquiring hsv2 from oral sex is extremely rare, especially on the first occasion. Please help, any answers would be greatly appreciated!!!
Stacy
Stacy
Interesting post. You are assuming you had a culture performed. HSV-2 orally is rare. So with that being said he would have had to be shedding which shedding rates on HSV-2 oral are low and/or having an active outbreak. Chances are more this was HSV-1.
Right now the thing to do is get a copy of the lab work you had done with the doctor you saw. I would also suggest maybe a bloodtest as well.
Cultures can be wrong though it as well as rare in that it would have to be human error. So... You have a lot of rare events happening here. But lets get your paperwork reviewed and maybe get a type specific igg blood test done as well won't hurt.
Right now the thing to do is get a copy of the lab work you had done with the doctor you saw. I would also suggest maybe a bloodtest as well.
Cultures can be wrong though it as well as rare in that it would have to be human error. So... You have a lot of rare events happening here. But lets get your paperwork reviewed and maybe get a type specific igg blood test done as well won't hurt.
Thanks for your response. I assume that it was a culture test because he did a visual exam, told me that it was herpes and then 5 or so days later called me and told me that it was type 2. I just keep running the facts in my head and nothing adds up!!! The odds of him having type 2 in his mouth are so low and the odds of him shedding type 2 if he did have it are even lower, right? I don't know if it matters or not but we did kiss for a minute of so before he did anything and I have never had symptoms of anything in my mouth. This doctor was an older guy who has since retired. I guess that my way of coping with this was to drop all ties with him so I never did ask for my lab results. Would it be possible to have a really low positive from the culture that would really be negative? He never mentioned anything to me about having type 1 at all. Again, I just think that my odds are better of winning the lottery than getting hsv2 from a single encounter of recieving oral sex...
I am quite interested in this thread. Here's what I have found from my google research:
1) Oral HSV-2 occurs in approximately 1 to 3 percent of HSV-2 cases. Typically, oral HSV-2 is acquired at the same time as genital HSV-2.
2) Oral HSV-2 almost never recurs, and sheds approximately 3 days per year.
3) Dr. Handsfield has stated that he has never seen or heard of a case of genital HSV-2 acquired from receptive oral sex. I can't find Terri Warren's or Dr. Hook's position but Terri Warren has only seen 5 cases of oral HSV-2.
As for you Stacey, why do you assume that a culture was performed? From what I've read, having a culture on lesions is quite painful. And, do you know if you ever had cold sores as a child? I am thinking that you might have genital HSV-1.
Does anyone know of any documented cases of GHSV-2 acquired through oral sex? Any other anecdotal reports? Have Terri Warren or Dr. Hook ever seen a case?
1) Oral HSV-2 occurs in approximately 1 to 3 percent of HSV-2 cases. Typically, oral HSV-2 is acquired at the same time as genital HSV-2.
2) Oral HSV-2 almost never recurs, and sheds approximately 3 days per year.
3) Dr. Handsfield has stated that he has never seen or heard of a case of genital HSV-2 acquired from receptive oral sex. I can't find Terri Warren's or Dr. Hook's position but Terri Warren has only seen 5 cases of oral HSV-2.
As for you Stacey, why do you assume that a culture was performed? From what I've read, having a culture on lesions is quite painful. And, do you know if you ever had cold sores as a child? I am thinking that you might have genital HSV-1.
Does anyone know of any documented cases of GHSV-2 acquired through oral sex? Any other anecdotal reports? Have Terri Warren or Dr. Hook ever seen a case?
I'm guessing that your provider didn't order the culture typed and just assumed if you had genital herpes, it was hsv2. I recommend following up with a type specific herpes igg blood test to see if you are hsv1 or hsv2 positive. odds are you actually have hsv1 genitally and not hsv2.
grace
grace
Thank you so much for your responses, they all mean so much to me! I enjoyed reading your statistics and to me it just supported my theory of how rare it would have been to acquire hsv 2 from this single encounter. No, I never ever had a cold sore as a child or as an adult. You were saying that maybe a culture test was not performed. I have a question regarding that. If a culture test was not done and I know that a blood test was not done, what type of test must have been done to come back with a hsv diagnosis? I went in with what I believed were visual symptoms. Does a culture test distinguish between type 1 and type 2? Whatever he did, the results came back 5 days later. So you are saying that maybe the test came back positive so the doctor may have just assumed that it was type 2 just based on location alone? He never mentioned anything about type 1, just said that I had type 2. I even told him my story of possible exposure and my lack of ANY sexual contact prior to that experience. For the last 10 years I have been in such denial of my diagnosis that I have never re-tested even though I know that I should get a igg blood test. I can't even imagine the relief if I came back only positive for type 1. However, I dont know if I could handle the results coming back positive for type 2. It is just so hard for me to believe that I could acquire type 2 from this single oral exposure. Again, I have never had a single outbreak since the very first symptoms occurred 10 years ago. This is also rare for type 2, correct? I was so young when this happened that I didnt ask him any questions. I wish that I knew then what I know now. I would ask him questions until I was blue in the face! Thank you again for all of your knowledge and expertise. ALL of your responses me so much to me! PLEASE keep them coming.
As we said the HSV-2 oral is a rare event. It isn't like a lot of people have it. Far more common to get HSV-1 genital than HSV-2 from oral sex.
The question of if the swab was indeed done comes from you. Did your provider swab using a q-tip looking deal or what did he do to test it? If lab work wasn't done at the time this was done then you know it wasn't a blood test. Yes, the typing SHOULD be done when doing a culture. But sometimes it isn't and when it isn't the provider assumes HSV-2 because it was in the genital location. Bad practice but it does happen.
Getting an IgG blood test is helpful at this point. If you are positive for HSV-1 then you know chances are it is genital because you (if you recall the swab culture being done) is what you have. Which point HSV-1 genital is the one with less reocurrances (if you get any at all) and less viral shedding compared to HSV-2 genital.
The question of if the swab was indeed done comes from you. Did your provider swab using a q-tip looking deal or what did he do to test it? If lab work wasn't done at the time this was done then you know it wasn't a blood test. Yes, the typing SHOULD be done when doing a culture. But sometimes it isn't and when it isn't the provider assumes HSV-2 because it was in the genital location. Bad practice but it does happen.
Getting an IgG blood test is helpful at this point. If you are positive for HSV-1 then you know chances are it is genital because you (if you recall the swab culture being done) is what you have. Which point HSV-1 genital is the one with less reocurrances (if you get any at all) and less viral shedding compared to HSV-2 genital.
I'm not saying that a culture of the lesion wasn't done, I'm saying that he probably did not order it typed. it probably just came back as hsv+ and he assumed hsv2 since it was genital. he very well could've been under educated about herpes in general as well he might not have believed your story of just having received oral sex either. 10 years later, it's doubtful we can get a copy of your test results to use them to get the answers you need.
follow up with the blood testing and go from there. if you need help with your results, just post them here in your post - e.g. hsv1 igg 4.9 and hsv2 igg .23 or whatever they are.
follow up with the blood testing and go from there. if you need help with your results, just post them here in your post - e.g. hsv1 igg 4.9 and hsv2 igg .23 or whatever they are.
Thank you so much everyone! I have another question, do they test for hsv during pregnancy in California? If no, why is that?
it differs from provider to provider but typically no, herpes is not tested for during pregnancy.
no good reason why it isn't other than under education of medical providers, the expense of testing as well as the erroneous belief that if you aren't having symptoms, why should you know you have herpes that many providers adopt as a reason why not to deal with herpes in their patients :(
no good reason why it isn't other than under education of medical providers, the expense of testing as well as the erroneous belief that if you aren't having symptoms, why should you know you have herpes that many providers adopt as a reason why not to deal with herpes in their patients :(
I have heard so many people rave about Terri and her knowledge on hsv. Terri, do you have anything to add to this crazy situation of mine?
Is it possible to get hsv from a dirty, hot tanning bed?
Is it possible to get hsv from a dirty, hot tanning bed?
Anyone can answer the above question. I am just trying to figure out if it turns out to be type 2, would it have been possible for me to catch it from a tanning bed? That is the only other possible explaination that I could even think of. What if the bed was still hot and was not washed off and I went on it? Coudl that have transmitted the virus to me? I am still hoping that once I get a blood test it will come back negative for type 2 though.
Terri doesn't come to this forum dear. You have to pay to post on her forum on medhelp.
no, you won't get herpes from a tanning bed.
no, you won't get herpes from a tanning bed.
Ohh okay, thanks Grace! You have been a lot of help.
If you have hsv, does it pose a great risk for pregnancy and having a baby naturally? I would think that it would but if it did, I dont understand why it wouldnt be included in your regular pregnancy std screening. Is it because the risk is so small?
If you have hsv, does it pose a great risk for pregnancy and having a baby naturally? I would think that it would but if it did, I dont understand why it wouldnt be included in your regular pregnancy std screening. Is it because the risk is so small?
no it isn't a big risk for pregnancy or delivery. If you don't have any symptoms at the time of delivery, it's a less than 1% risk of transmitting the virus to the baby.
Thank you so much Grace. You have really put my mind at ease and I can't thank you enough for that.
I just woke up with a cold sore this morning! I have never had one in my entire life! I would like to know if it is possible that I contracted this oral infection at the same time as my genital infection 10 years ago and just now are experiencing my first outbreak. If not, does this just back up the fact that my genital infection must be caused by type 2? I heard that once you have one strand at one location that you cannot get it at a different location. I am so afraid that this means that I must have 2 genitally in order to have been infected by 1 orally. Any answers would be GREATLY appreciated as I am freaking out over here!!!
First, it would be good to confirm if it is a cold sore indeed. A dermatologist might help you with that.
It's hard to say if such cold sore is related to your genital symptoms. Mainly because it seems like you haven't yet find out if your culture was ever typed for herpes 1 or 2. It would be good to learn about it with the doctor that performed such swab.
When you get your culture results, post them here.
It's hard to say if such cold sore is related to your genital symptoms. Mainly because it seems like you haven't yet find out if your culture was ever typed for herpes 1 or 2. It would be good to learn about it with the doctor that performed such swab.
When you get your culture results, post them here.
did you ever follow up with proper herpes testing after you first posted about this?
I never did, no =( I still have not had the courage to get tested.
Can you get oral hsv 1 after having a well established hsv 2 genital infection?
Can you get oral hsv 1 after having a well established hsv 1 genital infection?
Can you get oral hsv 1 after having a well established hsv 2 genital infection?
Can you get oral hsv 1 after having a well established hsv 1 genital infection?
Is it possible to acquire both hsv 1 orally and hsv 1 genitally at the same time but only get a genital outbreak right away and an oral outbreak years and years later?
get tested to see what your status is and go from there. you can have your current symptoms looked at also.
it's a heck of a lot of guessing until you get that testing done dear.
it's a heck of a lot of guessing until you get that testing done dear.
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You are reading content posted in the Herpes Community
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
