Question about cold sores

[lovestocheck]

Hey Doc,
I get a little paraniod about oral herpes or cold sores and i just have a question about something that happened two days ago. I let my cousin take a sip of my water bottle then about five seconds later i drank out of it. To my luck after i drank from it i noticed she had a cold sore. What is the risk of transmission through sharing drinks like i did? Is it possible to pass on herpes through saliva or do you need to actually have direct contact with the sore? The water bottle did not seem to touch the sore, and she took a very small sip, it was also outside and it happened to be very cold out.  I have never had a cold sore and i was just wondering if i have not been pre-exposed to cold sores, do i have a chance of catching it from this encounter?

Thanks a lot

[auntiejessi]

Zilian -

I couldn't find much on herpes rates in Japan, but I did find several sites that say that about 50% of Japanese has hsv1, and that genital hsv1 is as prevalent as genital hsv2.

Every country has high hsv1 infection rates.  The rates vary from country to country for hsv2, though.

I did find some websites, but I can't read japanese. Check out www.herpes.jp and it might have some info for you.

AJ

[Zilian]

1 in 30... 1 in 1000, I think so...
o.O"

[Zilian]

Hi,

AJ... here, where I live is not common for people having Herpes... I'd say 1 in 30 have Herpes. All I know is something rare here...

See you.

[auntiejessi]

Hi there -

He's not asking about HIV - he's asking about hsv, or herpes.

If you do not already have hsv1, then its possible that you could get it from this.  Its possible, but not likely.

About 60% of the poulation has hsv1, so if you don't have it, then you've kissed someone (probably more than 1) who has it.  Your parents, grandparents, etc., all probably have it, as that 60% will rise to about 80% in older generations.

I'm not sure what the paranoia is about this, because its so common, but why not just get a type specific IgG blood test and find out if you already have it?  Only about 20-40% of folks with hsv1 will ever get a cold sore, so you might well already have it.

AJ

[Zilian]

Hi, friend.

Oh, come on, man! You gotta be kiddin me, you know what I'm sayin?
Gettin HIV from bottles? That's new for me. Chill out ma man, this ain't happening!

Nah, I say saliva ain't got enough viral charge to pass HIV, aight?

See ya.

(Sorry for my lingo)