Shingles and cold sores

[JamesDVD]

I had shingles as a young adult. When I get a runny nose I sometimes get a sore on my nose when I wipe too much. Is that a cold sore? Even if it isnt, if I engage in oral sex with a woman (regardless if theses are cold sores or not), can I transfer herpes virus to her? My current partner has just been diagnosed with HSV-1 on her genitals and I fear that I am the culprit. She did have another partner a few months ago, but developed symptoms a few days after we engaged in oral sex. I plan to get tested as soon as possible, but was hoping for some info in the meantime. What else do I need to tell you? I havent had a shingles outbreak in 30 years. I do not get outbreaks of anything other than those suspicious sore spots after several days of wiping my nose in cold and flu season. I THINK I will come out as HSV 1 positive in a blood test due to the shingles but would like to know if I am the cause of this.... I am losing sleep feeling that I have made a stupid mistake and she is the one paying for it....

[HowardH]

Correct. Because immunity protects against new infections with the same virus type, couples do not "ping pong" their mutual HSV infections back and forth.

[JamesDVD]

Thank you for your helpful reply. For clarification, when you say we cannot reinfect each other, does that mean I will not contract it genitally from her?

[HowardH]

Herpes zoster (shingles) and herpes simplex are entirely different viruses and cause entirely separate medical conditions. Perhaps it is possible your distant past shingles was really HSV1 which was misdiagnosed -- but probably not.

The recurrent sore on your nose could be simply trauma from nose blowing etc, but I suspect you are correct in assuming it's HSV1 that recurs when you have an upper respiratory infection. (They're called "cold sores" for good reason!) And it does seem likely you are the source of your partner's genital herpes. So you probably will indeed have a positive HSV1 blood test, but not because of past shingles.

Don't beat yourself up over this transmission event.  You're not alone in not knowing you had something that could be transmittted to a partner by oral sex or kissing. And although nobody wants genital herpes, if it happens, HSV1 is a lot better than HSV2. With proper treatment (I hope your partner IS on valacyclovir or one of the other anti-herpes drugs), it will heal quickly. Genital HSV1 tends to recur infrequently, unlike HSV2 -- almost half of those with HSV1 people have no recurrent outbreaks at all.  And from here on out, neither of you can reinfect the other, no matter what sort of sexual contact you have with one another.

So most likely this will turn out to be an unpleasant inconvenience in your relationship, but one that will pass quickly and not cause ongoing problems. Good luck with it!