i have just found out i have herpes - and now am terrified i have hiv

[peaches28255]

Hi Doctor,
I'm hoping you can help me. . .I am a hetreosexual non-drug using female. I recently had a first sexual encounter with a guy I was seeing. He was quite rough performing oral sex on me, and we did have sexual intercourse, although he did not come inside. i remember he kind of jabbed his penis by accident into the top of my vagina, which was sore. for a couple of days afterward i was sore, and felt like the outside of my vagina had been scratched, which i thought may have been friction. then about four days later blisters began to appear on one side of my labia. i was told by a health practioner that i had genital herpes. i have never even had a cold sore.
i went to my doctor today where i got a full sti/std screen. i am awaiting the results.
I am terrified.
i lost my fiance very tragically over 18 months ago and for the past year have not been taking the care of myself that i usually do, or should ie. regularly using condoms. i have had about seven unprotected straight sexual encounters (no anal), with straight non-drug using men, and since my herpes diagnosis (which i am devastated at)  i am convinced i may have contracted something more sinister.
what i wanted to ask was, would the herpes have laid dormant for months with out me knowing? could this herpes be an indication of the early symptoms/ suppressed immune system because of hiv?
could i have had internal herpes lesions (which make hiv easuer to get) and not realised, even though i showed classic symptoms during the incubation period?
in your medical opinion, what are my risks for having hiv?
can hiv be transmitted through pre ejaculation?
i am never not using condoms again.
thanks so much for your time.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

I hope my comments will be helpful to you.  Before I comment on your risk for HIV, I would like to make a comment or two about your herpes diagnosis.  I hope that your doctor did a culture of the sores.  I suspect your doctor is correct but I also think that it is important to be sure.  sometimes doctors call things herpes when they aren't.  In addition, it is important to know what kind of herpes you have as it may affect the management. If a culture was not done, a herpes blood test may be helpful, particularly if this was a recurrent episode.  This is the HIV site and if you have additional herpes questions you can get them either at the STD site which Dr. Handsfield and I handle or, go to the herpes expert forum where questions are answered by Terri Warren.

With regard to HIV.  Your risk of HIV is low.  while herpes can increase the risk of getting HIV, the vast majority of people who have herpes do not have and will not get HIV.  Both HIV and HSV are sexually transmitted diseases and thus there is overlap in who gets them.  In addition, the presence of one STD can act to increase risk for getting another.  thus your herpes could increase your risk for HIV.  The chances that you are exposed however is very, very low.  Less than 1 in a thousand heterosexual American men who do not use IV drugs have HIV and the risk of HIV from a single sexual exposure is 1 infection per 1000 acts of vaginal intercourse.  Thus, your mathematical probability of infection is already less than 1 in a million.  


Given what you say about your recent life style and condom use, I think it is worthwhile to get tested for HIV if you have not already been because I suspect the negative test will give you peace of mind and allow you to move on with your life.

I hope these comments make sense and are helpful to you.  EWH

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Also see my mistaken duplicate reply on the herpes community forum.

HHH, MD