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GHSV1 transmission risk?
A month after I was diagnosed with GHSV1, I made out with a guy one night and he fingered me. We continued to kiss and make out but after a while, he began to jerk off with the same hand that he used to touch me. How great is the transmission risk considering his hand had vaginal secretion but might have already been wiped off after moving around on the bed? Thank you.
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There is no risk here. First, herpes requires direct skin to skin contact in order to transmit - you got ghsv1 from oral sex - someone's mouth was directly on your genitals.
Hsv2 is transmitted by direct unclothed genital to genital or genital to anal contact - usually penetrative sex.
Like you said, there's movement - wiping his hand on the bed, exposure to air, time, etc.
Also, if your partner already has hsv1 - and a large portion of the population does - he can't get it again genitally.
I'm not sure you know this, but you are unlikely to ever transmit this to anyone. Ghsv1 rarely sheds, rarely recurs (meaning you don't get a lot of outbreaks), so unless you have an outbreak, you probably won't transmit it. After about 2 years, you'll be shedding about 4 days a year.
There's debate on whether or not you should tell your partners since the transmission risk is so low. I vote for telling, because it's a trust thing. If a partner ends up a relationship, and you hadn't shared the info, it wouldn't be great if they found out months into the relationship. It also opens the discussion about STDs. You need to know what they might have, too.
As far as this encounter though, it's fine. :)
Hsv2 is transmitted by direct unclothed genital to genital or genital to anal contact - usually penetrative sex.
Like you said, there's movement - wiping his hand on the bed, exposure to air, time, etc.
Also, if your partner already has hsv1 - and a large portion of the population does - he can't get it again genitally.
I'm not sure you know this, but you are unlikely to ever transmit this to anyone. Ghsv1 rarely sheds, rarely recurs (meaning you don't get a lot of outbreaks), so unless you have an outbreak, you probably won't transmit it. After about 2 years, you'll be shedding about 4 days a year.
There's debate on whether or not you should tell your partners since the transmission risk is so low. I vote for telling, because it's a trust thing. If a partner ends up a relationship, and you hadn't shared the info, it wouldn't be great if they found out months into the relationship. It also opens the discussion about STDs. You need to know what they might have, too.
As far as this encounter though, it's fine. :)
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Thank you for your thorough answer, I really appreciate it :) Considering that I actually haven’t had any recurrent outbreaks since the first one, can I assume that the possibility of asymptomatic shedding for me is lower than those who get recurrent outbreaks? Will my viral load be greater if I hadn’t taken too good a care of myself physically and emotionally during the first outbreak, thus possibly leading to a more serious infection of the virus in my body? Thank you.
How long have you had it?
We know that 88% of people who don't get a second outbreak during their first year of infection will never get another one. (https://westoverheights.com/forum/question/ghsv1-questions/)
A recent, and still unpublished study shows that ghsv1 sheds 13.7% at 2-3 months out from new infection, 7.1% of days at 11-12 months out and 1.3% at 2 years out. (https://westoverheights.com/forum/question/clarifying-ghsv1-stats/) I don't know if this differentiated between symptomatic and asymptomatic. If you are newly infected, you may not yet know which category you fall under.
Taking good care of yourself during your initial outbreak may have helped your first outbreak, but probably won't have any effect on the future of your infection. Some people just get more outbreaks than others do. Only time determines what you will experience. For ghsv1, for those that get outbreaks, the average is about 1 a year.
You won't ever get down to no shedding, if that's what you're hoping for. After 2 years though, it'll be as close to it as possible.
We know that 88% of people who don't get a second outbreak during their first year of infection will never get another one. (https://westoverheights.com/forum/question/ghsv1-questions/)
A recent, and still unpublished study shows that ghsv1 sheds 13.7% at 2-3 months out from new infection, 7.1% of days at 11-12 months out and 1.3% at 2 years out. (https://westoverheights.com/forum/question/clarifying-ghsv1-stats/) I don't know if this differentiated between symptomatic and asymptomatic. If you are newly infected, you may not yet know which category you fall under.
Taking good care of yourself during your initial outbreak may have helped your first outbreak, but probably won't have any effect on the future of your infection. Some people just get more outbreaks than others do. Only time determines what you will experience. For ghsv1, for those that get outbreaks, the average is about 1 a year.
You won't ever get down to no shedding, if that's what you're hoping for. After 2 years though, it'll be as close to it as possible.
Thank you again for your reply, so far it has been a few months since my diagnosis but I just wanted to get a brief idea of how that would be. But did you mean ghsv1 instead of 2 in your third paragraph? Thanks a lot, you’ve really eased my worry :)
I did mean ghsv1 - I'm sorry. I'll get someone to edit that for me. Thanks for your good eye. :)
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You are reading content posted in the Herpes Community
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.
