Herpes exposure

[bosko71]

I had unprotected anal sex with my x-wife on a Sunday night (she had no symptoms at the time)... Monday morning she woke up with vulvitis, Tuesday she had muscle pain and the tingling sensation in her legs and by Wednesday she developed sores in her virgina (externally and internally). She went to the doctor and even though they are waiting for the swab test, they are almost certain it is Herpes. Unbeknown to me at the time, she had sex with another partner day before she was with me and another time a week before she was with me. I went for a blood test just to ensure that I had not been positive for herpes previously and am waiting for the results.  

I guess my questions are... even though I don't think I have developed symptoms to this point..9 days out from the event (although keep thinking I have muscle pain or I have what seems to be infected hairs on the shaft of my penis) I'm very anxious. Do I just wait for something to happen? Also should I be freaking out about other STD's? What are the likelihood she may have been also exposed to HIV? Is the probability higher since she did acquire herpes?

Thank you.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to the Forum.  You have asked a lot of questions that will be easier to answer after you have your test results.  I'll make some comments but let's hold too much follow-up until we have her culture results and your blood test results.  At that time we will be able to more accurately help to sort things out.  When results  are available you can make a follow-up post to this question.  

If your wife had not developed lesions at the time you had sex, you may not have been exposed.  If you were exposed, that does not mean that you got infected since the fact is that most exposures to infected partners, even if they have lesions present, do not lead to infection.  

As far as your risk is concerned, if you acquired HSV during the exposure you describe, we would expect you to develop lesions at a site of exposure between 4 and 14 days following exposure. That you are 9 days out makes it unlikely that you got HSV but we cannot yet be definitive.  

As far as other STDs are concerned, it sounds as though your wife has had at least one and perhaps other partners. that being the case, while it is unlikely that you got another STD (or HIV), there is no harm in getting checked – the important STDs to be checked for would be gonorrhea and chlamydia.  As for HIV testing, the risk is quite low.  If you want to get checked for HIV to be completely sure, wait until 8 weeks after your exposure to get tested. At that time the results of a standard HIV antibody test will be definitive and will, I suspect, show that you did not get HIV from the exposure you mention.  EWH

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Your chances of having a postive PCR test, which you alreaddy know I would not recommend, are low.  By increased false positves results, I mean that rates of false positives go from 1 or 2 in 1000 to 1-3 per 100, i.e. much higher but still rather low.  EWH

[bosko71]

Please Doctor, one more follow up question. As I still await the results of other STD tests as a result of my recent HSV-S exposure, I am reading that HIV RNA/DNA has a high level of false positives. Is this true and should I prepare myself for such a possibility?

Thank you..

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Thanks for the follow-up.  You may or may not have been exposed.  that you ahve not had symptoms by now makes it unlikely that you got genital HSV from your exposure.  EWH

[bosko71]

Thanks Doctor, my x-wife culture results have come back positive for HSV-2. My blood test (HSV) Type 2-Specific Antibodies, IgG came back negative <0.91, I guess indicating that I did not have HSV prior to this event.  12 days from the event and I still have not developed any symptoms.

Also I am now awaiting test results for gonorrhea and chlamydia as well as syphilis and Hep C (my doctor also took blood for a HIV RNA test, I think just to alleviate some of my anxiety) but hopefully everything will turn out ok.

Thanks for the posts.