Aa
Recent infection or long time carrier?
About 5 weeks ago i got my first cold sore (unless i got them during childhood) and it came in the form of several blisters. They healed and thats that but it kills me not knowing how i got it. I hadnt kissed any one up to a few months prior and i dont share drinks. Only thing i can think of is Ive always had it and never shown symptoms or someone took a swig from my cup while I wasnt looking. So my question i guess is how likely is it that Ive always had the virus vs it being recently acquired? How common is it for someone to go their whole teen and adult life with no symptoms but be a carrier? So much conflicting info out there between some saying onset of symptoms form with up to 20 days post exposure vs some saying you can go years with no symptoms. Btw i did an igg test at 4 weeks post first sign of blister (which i guess could be 5-6 weeks post exposure) which was positive for hsv1 with a value of 40.5
COMMUNITY LEADER
90% of people who have oral hsv1 never get a cold sore, so you can have it and never know.
Given that you tested at 5-6 weeks post-exposure (possibly), there is no way to know if this is a new infection, or one you've had for a long time. Most people will develop antibodies within 6 weeks.
So you have to figure out if it really matters (hint - it does not). Medically, it makes no difference, and emotionally, it shouldn't either. It's just a virus that you (and millions and millions of others around the world) have.
A note though - there is no such thing as a herpes carrier. A carrier implies that the virus is in your system but dormant, or inactive. What we know about herpes is that even without visible symptoms, it can still be active on the skin, which is called asymptomatic viral shedding. It is possible to transmit it when this happens. Since it's asymptomatic, we don't know when this is happening.
However, don't freak. Many people have this, and if they already have it, they can't get it from you again. You aren't shedding every day. You CAN transmit this to someone's genitals if you perform oral sex on them, especially if you do so when you have symptoms. (Again, if they already have hsv1, chances of this happening are very low as they have antibodies. Just don't perform oral sex with an outbreak, and include this in your STD discussion that I'm sure you have with partners lol.)
HSV1 is discussed in the Herpes Handbook - https://westoverheights.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Updated-Herpes-Book.pdf
Given that you tested at 5-6 weeks post-exposure (possibly), there is no way to know if this is a new infection, or one you've had for a long time. Most people will develop antibodies within 6 weeks.
So you have to figure out if it really matters (hint - it does not). Medically, it makes no difference, and emotionally, it shouldn't either. It's just a virus that you (and millions and millions of others around the world) have.
A note though - there is no such thing as a herpes carrier. A carrier implies that the virus is in your system but dormant, or inactive. What we know about herpes is that even without visible symptoms, it can still be active on the skin, which is called asymptomatic viral shedding. It is possible to transmit it when this happens. Since it's asymptomatic, we don't know when this is happening.
However, don't freak. Many people have this, and if they already have it, they can't get it from you again. You aren't shedding every day. You CAN transmit this to someone's genitals if you perform oral sex on them, especially if you do so when you have symptoms. (Again, if they already have hsv1, chances of this happening are very low as they have antibodies. Just don't perform oral sex with an outbreak, and include this in your STD discussion that I'm sure you have with partners lol.)
HSV1 is discussed in the Herpes Handbook - https://westoverheights.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Updated-Herpes-Book.pdf
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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.
