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Risk for Herpes??

I have received an unprotected blowjob yesterday and it was on and off lasted about 15-20 min around that time range. It was a one time encounter. The girl giving me oral had no cold sores or symptoms of Herpes and she strongly claimed to not have herpes, and symptoms of it. She also claimed to not have any STI or any of the herpes. But it’s her sexual history that worries me the most:

This girl has had sex a total of 3 times in her lifetime with 2 different people. 2 of those 3 times were unprotected vaginal sex and both unprotected vaginal sex was with 2 different people. She also gave unprotected oral to 3 different guys before me, she gave unprotected oral for a total of 4 times before me.

She claims all her sexual partners in the past did not have any visible symptoms of herpes or anything strange in their genitals. She also said that the guys in her past also claim to be free of any STDs including both types of herpes.

I had an STD scare about a year ago and so I got tested for all STDs after one month of having protected sex and unprotected oral from my ex and all came back positive. I also tested for both herpes and HIV and Syphilis a little over 3 months after the encounter and all came back negative. I am a 17 year old male and the girl who gave me an unprotected blowjob yesterday is 16 yrs old.

I have read that herpes is hard to catch this way, especially if no cold sores was visible. But it’s still possible and I’m unsure of my chances and me worrying about this is getting the best of me and I can’t really focus on schools and things I need to do.

What are my chances of getting genital hsv1 from this one time encounter from this female???

An answer from anyone would be extremely helpful and I thank you in advance for a response to this post.

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Avatar universal
Thank you for your response AJ.

Could you please enlighten me with what the herpes symptoms I wouldn’t miss are??
Like what would I start with if I was to have a genital hsv1 outbreak. And that day I made out with her too and I have no symptoms on my lips and no fever/sore throat, so would it affect my mouth first?

I would just like to know which symptoms I’d experience first and how severe it would be and how it would feel like?

Thanks again for responding
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
If you got both oral and genital herpes, there's no way of knowing which would come first, assuming you were infected in both places.

You would get blisters or paper-cut like sores, maybe some achy muscles, fatigue. It affects everyone a little differently, but with a true primary outbreak - a new infection when you have neither type already - tends to be more severe, so you'd likely have more blisters, etc.

You might get blisters in your mouth or throat - a primary oral hsv1 infection can cause something called herpes gingivostomatitis. This happens more in children but can happen in older teens and adults. You might get blisters on your lips only. Again, everyone is different. You might get swollen glands. None of it will happen without getting blisters or sores.
Avatar universal
Thank you so much AJ and the forum for being such a blessing and a relief for those seeking immediate answers!

Today is Day 4 since my encounter and I’m not sick nor do I have a sore throat either but I woke up at around 5:30 am this morning and noticed a mild pain north left from the base of my penis (in the pubic area), but not too far off from the base. The pain felt 1/10 maybe 1.5 at most in the morning and I started inspecting and touching the area because it felt as if I was sleeping in a wrong position and hurt my groin or a pimple is coming in. I wanted to see if a pimple was coming in so I was touching the area on and off for about 5-10 min and the pain wasn’t even much and I couldn’t feel a developing pimple. Right after it started burning and I thought maybe the burning is from the irritation of me touching it so I kept touching to see what was wrong.

Me knowing that burning is one of the early symptoms that there is about to be an outbreak I freak out so i keep thinking about it and my anxiety just keeps coming even if I try my best not to. Now the thing is when I think about it the area burns and when I think about it less the area burns less and when I’m distracted and don’t think about it at all the area doesn’t burn. It has now been 5 hours and still no development of a pimple and there isn’t the mild pain that I felt in the morning.

Usually I wouldn’t worry about this but I received a blowjob 4 days ago with a 16 yo girl who had no visible symptoms and she’s never had any symptoms and has never recalled having an outbreak ever in her life also never knowing a family member with cold sores. So the chances are slim and this Was one encounter.

It’s actually going onto 6 hours now but the burning is a lot less and the only thing affecting it is my anxiety I believe, since it depends whether I think about it I guess I . Could this be a symptom of a genital hsv1 outbreak? Would it be likely to happen? Or is this just anxiety?
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
I think it's anxiety. You are monitoring symptoms hour by hour, which is too much. If you get herpes symptoms, you won't miss them. You should limit yourself to checking once a day. Any more than that, and you could cause irritation, which you'll think are herpes symptoms.

Your partner has had sexual activity a small handful of times in her life. Your risk is very low.

Keep yourself busy, do all your normal activities, and stop thinking about it. If you get symptoms, you'll notice them. If this level of anxiety is normal for you, think about getting some help for it. Your reaction to it is not in proportion to the risk.
Avatar universal
Hello,
Last question Auntijessi.
Is herpes airborne? I have a core worker who has dried up cold sores and I was wondering if they talk right next to you if it is airborne?
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
No, it isn't. It is spread only by direct skin to skin contact - mouth to mouth, mouth to genital, genital to genital, genital to anal, unclothed. It takes some friction, like more than a quick kiss or a quick touch. If someone with oral herpes kisses you on the cheek, you won't get it - the skin on your cheek is too thick for the virus to penetrate.

You really don't need to fear this like you do.

Avatar universal
Thank you for your thorough response I really appreciate it. By the way just to clarify she has had 2 sex partners and had sex a total of 3 times. 2 of those 3 times were unprotected but lasted about 5 min (those were the sexual partners she has had vaginal sex with), but there was one other guy who she had unprotected oral with but that was one encounter.

Anyways I appreciate ur response. I only added that information up there Incase your response to my question changes.
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
No, it doesn't change my response, and I got a little confused about the partners - some she had sex with, some she had oral with, and I wasn't sure if any of those were the same people, so I took a guess.

But it doesn't change anything. The risk is still really low.
Avatar universal
Thank you for responding again.

Can you please give me a percentage of how low this risk is since you said it was a low risk. Like is it less than 20% or 10%.... even if there are no official numbers could you give me your own opinion of a number percentage or an educated estimate please it would really help me and my situation??

Also since I was receiving oral on and off for 15-20 min would the risk be higher than receiving it under 5 min. Although it was still a one time encounter and she didn’t have any cold sores or anything around her lips and she didn’t have a cold/fever that day.
Helpful - 0
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I can't give you that number. If she doesn't have hsv1, it's zero. If she has it and wasn't shedding the virus, it's zero. If she was shedding, you have a chance, but we don't know how much of a chance since we don't know how much virus needs to be present to transmit, and that's probably different for each person.

Oral sex in general is lower risk for STDs than vaginal or anal sex.

She's 16, and has had 4 sex partners. Someone her age isn't as likely to have hsv1 as someone who's 30 or 50.

All I can tell you is that if it were me, I wouldn't be worrying about it at all in the absence of of her having sores, not even a little.

Since STDs clearly make you anxious, you should consider using condoms for oral sex as well as any intercourse you have.
Avatar universal
Thank you for responding auntijessi. Not to sound rude or anything but as I stated in my original post that I have been tested for both herpes (hsv1 and 2) 3 months after my previous sexual encounter with my ex that happened a year ago. Tests came back negative for both so I’m  sure I don’t have hsv1.

Also I read online that it’s a 1 in 10,000 chance I’ll get the virus if she is infected  but has no visible symptoms such as a cold sore. I also read that it’s a 4% chance for males a year to get the virus with an infected partner every year if the infected partner has no visible symptoms. I also read that most people who are exposed to hsv1 at a later age don’t get infected right away but the chances become greater with multiple encounters with an infected person. Are these facts true?

Is it harder to transmit hsv1 from mouth to genital than mouth to mouth? Or is it still the same?

I am fully aware that I’m always at a risk for hsv1 but is my one time encounter with this girl a top low of a risk to even worry about herpes?
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
I'm sorry I missed the part about your test, but you should know that the hsv1 IgG test misses about 30% of hsv1 infections, so there's still a chance that you have hsv1.

The 4% chance of transmission to males is for hsv2 for intercourse with females. We have no studies on oral sex hsv1 transmission. That's also true for the 1 in 10,000 stat.

I've never read anything about people who are exposed to hsv1 at a later age, but if you can link it for me, I'm happy to take a look.

Hsv1 prefers the mouth, but a close second is the genitals, and about 50% of all new genital herpes infections are type 1 from oral sex. Don't panic at this - this is probably because more people are admitting to oral sex, or are having oral sex, and we know now that we need to do type specific testing on sores in the genital area.

If it were me, and someone with no visible sores gave me oral sex, I wouldn't worry about it at all unless I got sores.
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So if you were to get herpes from oral sex, it would be genital herpes type 1 (ghsv1). Even if she has genital herpes, which can be type 1 or 2, you were only exposed to her mouth, so you'd be at risk for ghsv1 only.

You, her and anyone else can get oral herpes type 1 (ohsv1) from anyone they kiss, including well-meaning family members. Sexual history doesn't play a role in this. You could already have hsv1 and not know it - about half the population has hsv1 already, though the chances are higher the older you are. 90% of those with oral hsv1 never get any symptoms of it.

So, both of you being younger means there is less of a chance that either of you have oral hsv1, but there is still a chance. How much? We don't really know. Hsv1 transmission hasn't been studied like hsv2 has.

The chances are a lot lower since she didn't have any visible symptoms. There is something called asymptomatic viral shedding, which means that you can have the virus present with no symptoms, and still transmit it. We don't know how much virus needs to be present to transmit, and it probably differs from person to person, and situation to situation. Oral hsv1 sheds about 25% of days per year.

The incubation period (time from infection to when you see symptoms) is 2-20 days, with the average of 4 days.


Is herpes a phobia for you? Is it a germ thing? An anxiety thing? No one wants herpes, but hsv1 is really common. Every time you kiss someone, you have a chance of getting it, but overall, hsv1 is not a big deal.

I'd say overall, your risk is low.

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