Single Occurance Risk of Transmission (F to M) and Test Delay (?)

[W87H]

I am a 36-year old white male who recently (several days ago) had unprotected oral (gave and received) and vaginal sex with a partner who is positive for both HSV-2 and HPV.  My partner was not suffering an outbreak before or during the time when we had sex.

I plan on getting tested, but have three questions:

1.  Is there a standard and medically-accepted figure that represents the numerical risk of type-2 herpes transmission from infected female to uninfected male based on a single sexual encounter?  If not, what is a professional guess as to the odds of transmisson?  I have read a few articles that suggest female to male transmission is less likely than the reverse.  Can you render a statistical guess.

2.  Same question for HPV, please.

3.  How important is waiting to get tested?  Not sure about HPV testing, but it has been suggested that HSV-2 infection may take a few days to a week to manifest.  As such, should I wait a week or so before getting a blood test for both?

I appreciate your consideration of my questions.

Thanks!

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

There is little point in being tested after a single such exposure.  There is no test for asymptomatic HPV infection, so that's not a consideration.  All you can do is wait and see if you develop genital warts.

There are no data on per-exposure transmission risk for either infection and I wouldn't even speculate, except to say it is rare for herpes (if the infected person wasn't having a recognized outbreak) and probably somewhat more common for HPV.  The risks probably are somewhat lower for female-to-male transmission than the reverse, especially for HSV, but the difference isn't very great.

The blood test for HSV-2 takes 3 months to become reliably positive.  There is no point in testing at 1 week.  Sexually active persons generally should be tested routinely for common STDs once a year, especially gonorrhea, chlamydia, and a syphilis blood test.  (Some people recommend including HSV-2, but that's controversial.)  If you haven't had such testing in the past year, perhaps this would be a good time, but not specifically because of this particular exposure.  

Good luck---  HHH, MD

[ChicShane]

Hey until the doc chimes in, you can't get a blood test for HPV, it's a skin virus.  When you say she was "postive" for HPV, did she say she had warts or a recent abnormal pap or Digene HPV DNA test?

[W87H]

No - she just mentioned it was one of two STD's she has.  Is transmission of HPV similar to HSV-2 in that it is most likely during active phases and/or outbreaks with warts present?