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Hi im newly diagnosed with ghsv1 . i havent been abke to find much data regarding transmission to uninfected male , the only ive been able to find is that ghsv1 has low sheddibg rates . what are the stats on ghsv1 ? Ive read trabsmission for ghsv2 female to male transmission 4% without meds or condoms and 2% with medication . so if ghsv2 sheds more and recur more frequently and only 2% transmission with medication , what's the likely hood to transmit ghsv1 with meds would it be close to 1%?
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207091 tn?1337709493
COMMUNITY LEADER
Unfortunately, we don't have transmission studies on ghsv1 like we do ghsv2, which is why you were unable to find anything.

We do know shedding rates, though:

Shedding rates: (and you can find all this in the herpes handbook - https://westoverheights.com/herpes/the-updated-herpes-handbook/)

HSV 2 genital 15-30% of days evaluated

HSV 1 genital 3-5% of days evaluated
  
HSV 1 oral 25% of days evaluated

HSV 2 oral 1% of days evaluated

The stats you have for ghsv2 transmission from female to male are correct (and are for the course of a year, assuming sex 2-3x a week), so if you're a math wizard (I am not), maybe you can extrapolate these into some kind of risk numbers.

Does your partner have hsv1 already, if you have one? If your partner already has hsv1, either orally or genitally, he can't get it from you as he has antibodies that will protect him from a new hsv1 infection. You can't give someone what they already have.

We know that ghsv1 rarely transmits. You'll know in time how frequent your outbreaks are - and in general, they are less frequent than ghsv2 outbreaks - so that may factor into your treatment decision.

Suppression isn't recommended for ghsv1 as it is for ghsv2 to reduce transmission. Many take it anyway for peace of mind. It's up to you and your partner. Personally, I probably wouldn't take it for transmission, but if I got frequent outbreaks, I'd take it for that. That's me, though, and you have to make the decision that's best for you. There's no right or wrong.

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He does not have hsv of any kind and we do not have protected sex . the doctor said because of how high my index value was that this was an established infection . i tried to do the math my self considering transmission for ghsv2 was 2% with medication and came up with 1% Chance if transmission ghsv1 but don't know if i calculated properly . do i need to worry about transmission to him ?
Me and bf has sex once a week . if your professional opinion if you had to put a number on transmission what would it be
Was it an IgG test? What was your result?

Is this a regular partner? If you didn't get it from him, do you know where you got it from? Did you go outside the relationship? Did he test for hsv1 with an IgG test?

I can't put a number on it. We just don't have the information, but I would say 1% would be a safe number to assume. I wouldn't worry about it. I'd avoid sex if you had symptoms - which is good sex code to avoid sex when you have symptoms of anything - but other than that, I wouldn't really worry about it.

If you find you get frequent outbreaks, make sure you don't have a secondary infection like yeast or bacterial vaginitis, which happens a lot with new herpes infections, and then you might consider suppression if you don't.
Swab and blood .. Igg 11.0
I believe i got it a few years back as i had a partner with cold sores . i have not went out of My relationship and he is a regular partner
Has your current bf tested to find out if he has it? Over half the adult population has it, and 90% of those will never get a cold sore.

It's entirely possible that you got it from your previous partner, but you can develop antibodies as soon as 2 weeks, and your test result could be that high early on. It's not really a rule that the higher the number, the older the infection.

The IgG misses about 30% of hsv1 infections, so if your current bf tests negative, it doesn't mean he doesn't have it. It doesn't really matter as far as who gave what to who, but just something to keep in mind when making treatment decisions.

He's negative he has been tested and i would like to reduce transmission . i want to have kids and don't want to have to use condoms for the rest of my life
You don't need to use condoms.

I'm sorry if I'm not being clear here. The chances that you'll transmit this is maybe around 1% (and that's really a rough estimate). I've never known anyone to transmit ghsv1 to someone.

If you just avoid sex during outbreaks, you should be just fine.
Oh and in case you haven't come across this yet, having herpes isn't an issue for pregnancy unless you get infected during your third trimester, or you have an outbreak during delivery. Many docs will put you on suppression during the last trimester to help prevent that. If you do have an outbreak, they'll do a c-section.

Other than that, you can have a totally normal pregnancy.
Thank you for your response
So basically i don't need to worry about transmission
Yes, exactly. :) I wouldn't worry about a thing if it were me, and I was avoiding sex when I had symptoms.
Okay great because when i was thinkjng about it was "about 1% maybe" i was thinking like hmmm yiu have a 1% chance of catching alot of things ..
Right? One comparison I like to use is the chances of getting pregnant while using the birth control pill, since it's something a lot of people use and trust. If used perfectly - taking it at the same time every day, not missing any pills, using a back up method if you get sick and vomit, or take antibiotics, etc., then it's 99% effective at preventing pregnancy.

If you take it like most women take it - sorta kinda at the same time most days, but sometimes forgetting and remembering hours later, not using a back up method while on antibiotics (which some doctors don't inform their patients about), or if you're vomiting, then it's about 91% effective.

You have maybe a 99% chance of NOT transmitting it.

So yeah, no worries. :)
I know you said that you don't recommend suppression but will suppression make that already low transmission rate even lower ?
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