herpetic whitlow

[fgilkey]

hello,first of all i am at total lost of what actually herpetic whitlow is,or how one gets it..however my question is my boyfriend of  3 years had a area on his index finger that had blisters,that was filled with clear fluid,he went to the doctors and he said he had herpetic whitlow (he didn't run any test) how would he have gotten this? you probally know what i am thinking,he had to be with someone who has herpes right? well he tells me being he works in construction,that his doctor said it is very common for construction workers to get! now i am more confused,could you please explain to me what herpetic whitlow is,and how does a person catch it? and do i have a risk of catching it,i do know about practicing good hygiene,and to not come into contact with the open or puss filled wounds.thank you

[gracefromHHP]

Since he's already been on antibiotics and antivirals - a lesion culture is likely to come back falsely negative at this point unfortunately.

Also a blood test will only tell him what he has and won't tell him that it's definitely herpes on his fingers.

Just wanted to point those 2 things out so you can explain that to him too so he's educated on this when he follows up on this tomorrow with his doctor.

Keep us posted!

grace

[fgilkey]

he has to go back to the doctor tomorrow,he spoke with the dpctor today and said he is concerned because it isn't healing with the types of medication,they are gonna do blood test then to determine if it is herpetic whitlow,or the posibility of some other type of an infection such as impetigo! i do appreciate you information on this.

[gracefromHHP]

Sounds like they are covering the herpes and the bacterial infection bases on this.

Herpes whitlow is traditionally from fingers in the mouth area picking up hsv1 but you can also get hsv2 on the fingers from fingers being on an infected partner's genital area.

grace

[fgilkey]

yes he was put on acyclovir and cephalexin,i have not had a outbreak of any type of sores,but it has only been roughly 3 weeks since his first came about,i am having him and i both tested for herpes.how are the ways of coming into contact with it,does it mean you actually have to have some sort of sexual encounter with someone?

[gracefromHHP]

Dry , cracked hands are vulnerable to infections of all sorts. I can' t believe your man's doctor just visually diagnosed it as whitlow without any tests :(  Did he prescribe any treatments for him?

At this point it's probably too late for an accurate lesion culture anyways. I suggest both you and your man get type specific herpes igg blood tests and go from there. should his finger rash reappear at any later date - he should be seen within 48 hours of its appearance and INSIST that they culture and type it for him.  even if his blood test comes back hsv1+ or yours does - that doesn't mean that what he has is herpes which is why additional testing will be needed in the future if he gets a return of symptoms.

grace

[slacker101]

Health Care workers are generally the people who get this type of herpes, not construction workers. Not sure where that came from. If he has blisters, I would get them cultured, Just because someone says he has it means nothing!! He might not. A Herpes Test is the only positive way. I am not sure what kind of Dr he has but he might have met up with someone who doesn't know herpes. If he has been your boyfriend this long and you don't have herpes, I am pretty curious how he got it IF he has it...