should i worry or not?

[imightjustbeahypochondriac]

I am a 21-year-old female.  About a month ago I had protected vaginal sex and unprotected oral sex (briefly, but both ways) with a man who had given oral sex to a female with genital HSV-2 a month a half before.  According to him, there were no sores present at the time of his encounter with this woman. This woman was a 23 year old woman who has had genital HSV-2 since high school and who (I believe) is in the habit of practicing safe sex and informing her partners of their risks. The man I slept with got blood-tested for herpes a month after it happened and the results were negative; this, I know, is a bit too soon to be tested for herpes, but I thought I would let you know anyway. At the time of my encounter with him, he had no visible sores on his mouth (where he would have contracted the virus if he did contract it). I have experienced no tell-tale symptoms, but have been freaking out nonetheless-- looking up herpes information online all the time, getting nervous about the smallest sensation in my mouth/crotch area.  I went to 2 doctors for a visual inspection.  One wouldn't even inspect me, saying my risks were too low to have acquired HSV-2 genitally or orally. The other gave me a visual examination and said she didn't see anything. I can't stop thinking about it nonetheless.
Questions:
1) What are my risks of acquiring HSV-2 from this encounter, both genitally and orally?
2) Do I need to get tested, or should I just stop worrying and move on?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

The doctor who wouldn't examine you is right.  (It would have been courteous to examine you, but I agree with his reasoning.)  Oral HSV-2 infections are rare; the chance your partner had one is extremely low, regardless of his exposure history.  In 30+ years working in a busy STD clinic (15,000 patient visits per year), I have never seen a case of either oral or genital HSV-2 infection that was acquired by oral sex, and to my knowledge no such case has ever been reported in the medical literature.

There is no realistic chance you were infected.  You do not need to be tested.  (If you were to be tested and turn out to have a postive test for HSV-2, it would be because you caught it some other time, not during the exposure you describe.)  As you suggest yourself, you should "just stop worrying and move on".

Good luck--  HHH, MD

[Englishman]

I reckon a very very low risk. I would move on.