Question: HSV-1 Cross-contaminating Other Body Parts

[AriAho]

I've had HSV-1 since my college days. 15-20 years or so. I get outbreaks on and near my lips every few months, but after going on antivirals (Famciclovir 250 mg 2x/day) it's been lessened.

My first question, being: if I have had the virus for this long, is there still a chance of me cross-contaminating myself with my own infection to other parts of MY body? (e.g., it's on lips to moving to my eyes, or hands, etc.)

Additionally, I have kept a good journal of my triggers, which seem to be sun, illness/fever. I have for whatever reason seen more frequent outbreaks, 1 in the last 3-straight months, but have not had any of these triggers. Obviously there is some other underlying trigger (likely stress), but my question is: would it help me to increase my dosage of my daily antiviral?

Thanks for the insight!

[auntiejessi]

So a couple things here -

First, once you have antibodies to hsv1, it is very, very unlikely that you would ever autoinoculate (spread it to another part of your body). You've had this for a really long time, and antibodies develop within a few months, so I wouldn't worry about that at all.

The other thing is that herpes infects nerve groups. Oral herpes infects the trigeminal nerve. That nerve affects the mouth, nose and eyes. It's possible that it could, at some point, travel and cause ocular (eye) herpes, but that's not common at all, especially now that you're on the meds.

It's always a good idea to be careful when touching an outbreak and make sure you don't touch your eyes, or contacts, if you wear them, but you don't need to obsessively worry about this.

If you're in the US, and the famciclovir is expensive, you might get just as good results from acyclovir or valacyclovir, and it might be cheaper on your insurance coverage. Just an FYI.