Aa
HSV 1 & 2
4 years ago I had sex with a condom and he performed oral sex on me. Within 2 weeks I had vaginal pain on my inner labia - a long white looking lesion going down one side of my inner labia. It never blistered. The gyno thought I had a yeast infection, not HSV and I got a neg viral culture too. Also neg blood work for HSV 1 & 2. The next few months, I was sick - malaise, fever, body rash, meningitis like symptoms, strange vision etc I later tested positive for HSV 1, which I'm confident I got from that encounter. My vagina felt better within a few weeks, while the viral sypmtoms lasted a few months. Eventually I totally recovered and have not had vaginal sypmtoms since.
1) Is it possible they only swabbed for HSV2 so I got a neg result?
2) Since the doctor and the swab both said neg for GHSV – do I need to inform partners? I do have HSV 1, but it seems inconclusive to what kind I have, even though I feel ‘intuitively’ I acquired it genitally.
14 months ago I had unprotected sex 3 times in 1 night. Within 2 weeks, I had a small rash on my left buttock. Red, no blister, sloughy skin. Gyno thought maybe herpes, but said no when I said there was no blister. I also had strong viral aches in my left leg and sacral tingling, which lasted a few months. Eventually it faded, to this day I have aches or sensations in my left buttock and leg down that I never had before incident. No other sickness and no skin rash since. A month after the incident I had unprotected sex with my new bf, he got rash on head of penis - no blistering, itching or malaise, just small flat red spots. He is uncircumsized .I got blood tested 18+ weeks after at Planned Parenthood for HSV 2 and was negative.
1) Is PP a reliable place? Can it take up to 6 months to make antibodies? I was only at 4.5 months - Do I need to get retested?
2) My partner’s rash could have been?
3) Could I have contracted another virus that caused the symptoms I listed above?
Thank you!
1) Is it possible they only swabbed for HSV2 so I got a neg result?
2) Since the doctor and the swab both said neg for GHSV – do I need to inform partners? I do have HSV 1, but it seems inconclusive to what kind I have, even though I feel ‘intuitively’ I acquired it genitally.
14 months ago I had unprotected sex 3 times in 1 night. Within 2 weeks, I had a small rash on my left buttock. Red, no blister, sloughy skin. Gyno thought maybe herpes, but said no when I said there was no blister. I also had strong viral aches in my left leg and sacral tingling, which lasted a few months. Eventually it faded, to this day I have aches or sensations in my left buttock and leg down that I never had before incident. No other sickness and no skin rash since. A month after the incident I had unprotected sex with my new bf, he got rash on head of penis - no blistering, itching or malaise, just small flat red spots. He is uncircumsized .I got blood tested 18+ weeks after at Planned Parenthood for HSV 2 and was negative.
1) Is PP a reliable place? Can it take up to 6 months to make antibodies? I was only at 4.5 months - Do I need to get retested?
2) My partner’s rash could have been?
3) Could I have contracted another virus that caused the symptoms I listed above?
Thank you!
THANK YOU!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Yes, even if you did have genital HSV-1, transmission is a rare event and not something I would worry about.
Yes, in your situation, I would say that a negative test at 4.5 months pretty much rules out HSV-2. EWH
Yes, in your situation, I would say that a negative test at 4.5 months pretty much rules out HSV-2. EWH
Ok thank you dr. Hook. My final questions is even if I do have gshv 1 there is a low risk of gshv 1 gentian transmission correct?
And if I were your patient at 4.5 mos would you think that is conclusive enough for negative hsv 2 test?
Thank you!
And if I were your patient at 4.5 mos would you think that is conclusive enough for negative hsv 2 test?
Thank you!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Wow- 15 minutes, 4 replies.
Going in reverse:
4. For better or worse, clients are not able to request a response from one or the other of us and once someone receives a response from one of us, the other will not chime in. This approach allows us to assist more MedHelp clients. FYI, part of the basis for our partnership is that while our verbal styles may differ, Dr. Handsfield and I have worked together for more than 30 years and have never come to different conclusions in our advice to MedHelp clients.
3. Having a parent with HSV-1 greatly increases the likelyhood of having HSV-1 but the same is not true for HSV-2. It can occur on the buttocks but, as I said, it gets there with direct contact, typically with a partner who has lesions which contact the skin of the rear end.
2. Thanks for the clarification. No change in my assesment
1. My sense is that this is something you worry about and would like to have a much information about as possible. If so, re-testing with a HerpeSelect IgG assay for both HSV-1 and -2 (not IgM) tests and getting the numerical values might help to clarify things and should you choose to do so, I will be happy to comment furher. As I mentioned, a Western Blot provides even more information but takes longer an is morexpensive (above $100).
I hope these comments are helpful. EWH
Going in reverse:
4. For better or worse, clients are not able to request a response from one or the other of us and once someone receives a response from one of us, the other will not chime in. This approach allows us to assist more MedHelp clients. FYI, part of the basis for our partnership is that while our verbal styles may differ, Dr. Handsfield and I have worked together for more than 30 years and have never come to different conclusions in our advice to MedHelp clients.
3. Having a parent with HSV-1 greatly increases the likelyhood of having HSV-1 but the same is not true for HSV-2. It can occur on the buttocks but, as I said, it gets there with direct contact, typically with a partner who has lesions which contact the skin of the rear end.
2. Thanks for the clarification. No change in my assesment
1. My sense is that this is something you worry about and would like to have a much information about as possible. If so, re-testing with a HerpeSelect IgG assay for both HSV-1 and -2 (not IgM) tests and getting the numerical values might help to clarify things and should you choose to do so, I will be happy to comment furher. As I mentioned, a Western Blot provides even more information but takes longer an is morexpensive (above $100).
I hope these comments are helpful. EWH
Is it possible for Dr. Handsfield to comment? I'd been reading his work and hoping he would comment too?
OH and my my mother has HSV 2 and has only ever manifested on her buttock as a rash.
And no PPH did not test for HSV 1 - only for HSV 2 when I had the blood work done. Techincally it was at like almost 19 weeks!
OK thank you Dr. Hook.
Do you recommend I retest for both HSV 1 & 2 to know my status? Or do you think that is unnecessary at this time frame?
I have a new boyfriend and I want to be very careful. I'm sure we will use condoms initially, but I do not expect forever. I have been tested and am free of any other STDs.
I'm mainly concerned about the HSV 2 scare that I had and that 4.5 months is a reliable enough time frame to of acquired antibodies.
Do you recommend I retest for both HSV 1 & 2 to know my status? Or do you think that is unnecessary at this time frame?
I have a new boyfriend and I want to be very careful. I'm sure we will use condoms initially, but I do not expect forever. I have been tested and am free of any other STDs.
I'm mainly concerned about the HSV 2 scare that I had and that 4.5 months is a reliable enough time frame to of acquired antibodies.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to our Forum. I hope you'll find my comments helpful. I am not confident that you have HSV-1 or -2 and, even if you do have HSV-1, the symptoms that you report are not suggestive to me of HSV infection despite having focused on the care of patients with HSV and other STIs for over 30 years. The blood tests for HSV are plagued by false positive results (false negative test results are much less of a problem) and must be interpreted with care. Most of the research on has been on the blood tests for HSV-2 however the general feeling from most experts is that, if anything, there are more problems with blood tests for HSV-1 than for HSV-2. Numerical values are particualrly helpful in interpreting HSV blood test results with higher values bein more likely to represent true infection and not be false positive. Further, IgM tests for HSV are generally thought to be useless and the false positive results are even more of a problem with the IgM tests. If there is any question at all, the Western Blot test performed at the Univerasity of Washington is generally accepted as the "gold standard" of HSV blood tests.
With your initial episode, the lesion that you describe does not sound like HSV, you had a negative culture (ad your doctor is to be congratulated on this, testing is the best way to be sure), and even inital HSV symptoms do not last months as yours did. For all of thes reasons, I am not sure that this is HSV and if it was, doubt that the months of symptoms you esperienced were due to HSV.
In answer to your questions about these events:
1) Is it possible they only swabbed for HSV2 so I got a neg result?
No, either HSV-1 or -2 would row in the same culture system. Your result indicates that no HSV was isolated.
2) Since the doctor and the swab both said neg for GHSV – do I need to inform partners? I do have HSV 1, but it seems inconclusive to what kind I have, even though I feel ‘intuitively’ I acquired it genitally.
No, I see no reason for informing partners, for all of the reasons tha make me doubt the diagnosis.
With respect to your more recent symptoms, it is not clear to me that this rash you experienced was HSV. HSV is transmitted by direct contact- was there contact with your buttock during the encounter? If you were going to get HSV, I would have anticipated a genital infection rather than on your buttocks. Further, as noted about, the months ofsymptoms that you did and continue to experience do not sound like HSV as I described above. Even initial HSV infections rarely cause symptoms for more than 3 weeks and that long is rather unuusal. When you tested at PPH, did they also test for HSV-1? Typically blood tests are done for both viruses at the same time.
In answer to your questions:
1) Is PP a reliable place? Can it take up to 6 months to make antibodies? I was only at 4.5 months - Do I need to get retested?
In general PPH is reliable and does a good job. There is, of couse, some variation from area to area. Your results are probably reliable. the proportion of persons who do not develop antibodies to HSV after 4.5 months is quite small, less than 5%
2) My partner’s rash could have been?
No way to tell about this without a culture or PCR test taken from the rash itself. It does not particualrly sound like HSV and there are many other possible causes of genital rashes. At this time, unless he has been tested in the past, a blood test is of little use.
3) Could I have contracted another virus that caused the symptoms I listed above?
There are many dermatologcal processes, including infections which could account for your symptoms. If therashes have ressolved and not recurred HSV is unlikely and it may be difficult to sort our going forward unless the rashes recur.
I hope these comments are helpful. I have tried to be detailed about this. Respones will be limited due to time and space limitations. EWH
With your initial episode, the lesion that you describe does not sound like HSV, you had a negative culture (ad your doctor is to be congratulated on this, testing is the best way to be sure), and even inital HSV symptoms do not last months as yours did. For all of thes reasons, I am not sure that this is HSV and if it was, doubt that the months of symptoms you esperienced were due to HSV.
In answer to your questions about these events:
1) Is it possible they only swabbed for HSV2 so I got a neg result?
No, either HSV-1 or -2 would row in the same culture system. Your result indicates that no HSV was isolated.
2) Since the doctor and the swab both said neg for GHSV – do I need to inform partners? I do have HSV 1, but it seems inconclusive to what kind I have, even though I feel ‘intuitively’ I acquired it genitally.
No, I see no reason for informing partners, for all of the reasons tha make me doubt the diagnosis.
With respect to your more recent symptoms, it is not clear to me that this rash you experienced was HSV. HSV is transmitted by direct contact- was there contact with your buttock during the encounter? If you were going to get HSV, I would have anticipated a genital infection rather than on your buttocks. Further, as noted about, the months ofsymptoms that you did and continue to experience do not sound like HSV as I described above. Even initial HSV infections rarely cause symptoms for more than 3 weeks and that long is rather unuusal. When you tested at PPH, did they also test for HSV-1? Typically blood tests are done for both viruses at the same time.
In answer to your questions:
1) Is PP a reliable place? Can it take up to 6 months to make antibodies? I was only at 4.5 months - Do I need to get retested?
In general PPH is reliable and does a good job. There is, of couse, some variation from area to area. Your results are probably reliable. the proportion of persons who do not develop antibodies to HSV after 4.5 months is quite small, less than 5%
2) My partner’s rash could have been?
No way to tell about this without a culture or PCR test taken from the rash itself. It does not particualrly sound like HSV and there are many other possible causes of genital rashes. At this time, unless he has been tested in the past, a blood test is of little use.
3) Could I have contracted another virus that caused the symptoms I listed above?
There are many dermatologcal processes, including infections which could account for your symptoms. If therashes have ressolved and not recurred HSV is unlikely and it may be difficult to sort our going forward unless the rashes recur.
I hope these comments are helpful. I have tried to be detailed about this. Respones will be limited due to time and space limitations. EWH
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
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.
