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Risk of Herpetic Whitlow
Hello - thank you for answering my question.
I found out about a year ago I have genital HSV I after I received oral from my boyfriend. He had been tested for other STD's, but unfortunately neither of us knew herpes could be transferred "a symptomatically." He had never even had a cold sore before. Of course, that sounds silly to me now after everything I've learned.
I've never had symptoms since then, and I've been in one relationship. My boyfriend and I engaged in mutual masturbation. Until recently, I didn't know about herpetic whitlow but now I do. I know its more common for dentists and such to get it if they touch a sore or infected mouth, or if a person touches HSV sores on someone's genitals. I also know that HSV can be transferred easily (and a symptomatically) just from skin-to-skin contact to multiple parts of the body.
So my question is this: Assuming I am symptom free and my partner has no obvious cuts on his hands, is there any real risk of him contracting herpetic whitlow if he massages/fingers my genitals? Is this something a future partner and I should be worried about, or is the risk more theoretical? Have you heard of or seen something like that in your experience? The last thing I want is for a partner to unwittingly spread herpes from his hands to his eyes or genitals.
Everything I've read online has suggested that yes, this is a real possibility. But its the internet of course, so who the heck knows!
Thank you so much for your help.
PS: Can you quickly clarify something for me? I've read that people with genital HSV I shed the disease a symptomatically only about 5-10% of the time (is that an accurate percentage by the way)? Does that mean on any given day my partner has a 5-10% risk of contracting HSV during unprotected sex if I'm symptom free? Its an encouraging statistic if true and I'd like to be able to clarify that for any future partner.
Thank you again.
I found out about a year ago I have genital HSV I after I received oral from my boyfriend. He had been tested for other STD's, but unfortunately neither of us knew herpes could be transferred "a symptomatically." He had never even had a cold sore before. Of course, that sounds silly to me now after everything I've learned.
I've never had symptoms since then, and I've been in one relationship. My boyfriend and I engaged in mutual masturbation. Until recently, I didn't know about herpetic whitlow but now I do. I know its more common for dentists and such to get it if they touch a sore or infected mouth, or if a person touches HSV sores on someone's genitals. I also know that HSV can be transferred easily (and a symptomatically) just from skin-to-skin contact to multiple parts of the body.
So my question is this: Assuming I am symptom free and my partner has no obvious cuts on his hands, is there any real risk of him contracting herpetic whitlow if he massages/fingers my genitals? Is this something a future partner and I should be worried about, or is the risk more theoretical? Have you heard of or seen something like that in your experience? The last thing I want is for a partner to unwittingly spread herpes from his hands to his eyes or genitals.
Everything I've read online has suggested that yes, this is a real possibility. But its the internet of course, so who the heck knows!
Thank you so much for your help.
PS: Can you quickly clarify something for me? I've read that people with genital HSV I shed the disease a symptomatically only about 5-10% of the time (is that an accurate percentage by the way)? Does that mean on any given day my partner has a 5-10% risk of contracting HSV during unprotected sex if I'm symptom free? Its an encouraging statistic if true and I'd like to be able to clarify that for any future partner.
Thank you again.
Thank you for your response, and for sending me such detailed forums. They were great! I feel much better about my situation; I just want to do what's best for any future partners I have and give them proper information about HSV transmission. Your response has helped a lot.
The more I learn, the less insecure I feel about having HSV and moving forward with dating other people.
Thank you!
The more I learn, the less insecure I feel about having HSV and moving forward with dating other people.
Thank you!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum. I'll try to help. The bottom line is that your genital HSV-1 infection is unlikley to be transmitted to future partners and whitlow is not at all likely.
Genital herpes due to HSV-1 has very important differences compared with HSV-2. Most important, recurrent outbreaks and asymptomatic viral shedding both are less common; and therefore transmission of genital HSV-1 to sex partners appears to be much less frequent. Here are three threads that go into detail about these and other issues. You should find most of the information quite reassuring. Because those discussions answer some of your specific questions, my replies below are brief.
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/Recently-diagnosed-with-Genital-Herpes-HSV1/show/969931
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/HSV-1--devastated/show/1159077
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/Asymptomatic-Shedding-hsv-1/show/1274603
Since your partner already has HSV-1 (he was the source of your infection, after all), he is immune to catching a new HSV-1 infection -- and certainly will not become infected, anywhere on his body, with the same strain of virus he already has. He will not get whitlow or genital herpes by contact with your genital area. Future, different partners could be at risk, but only if they have not previously had HSV-1. Even if not previously infected, the chances of either genital herpes or whitlow from you are low.
What my personal experience with patients is really not relevant. As it happens, I believe I have never seen a patient who acquired genital or oral HSV-1 from a partner with genital HSV-1 infection. Every case of HSV-1 I have ever seen came from a partner's oral infection. But that doesn't mean it can't happen; it can. But it's apparently quite uncommon.
As for whitlow, in 35 years in the STD business, I think I have seen only 2 patients with whitlow, and only a handful with eye infections. Whitlow occurs almost exclusively during the initial HSV infection, not in people with longstanding or recurrent herpes.
Finally, as for asymptomatic shedding: The tests used to detect it in research are very, very sensitive. They detect very minute amounts of HSV DNA, often at levels that are not likely to be easily transmitted. In other words, although it may be true that DNA can be detected 5-10% of the time, the proportion of the time the virus can be transmitted probably is very much lower than that. In any case, the partner who gave your your infection -- and any future partners who already have HSV-1 (as does half the US population) are not susceptible at all.
I hope this helps. Please read the other threads, then let me know if anything remains unclear.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
Genital herpes due to HSV-1 has very important differences compared with HSV-2. Most important, recurrent outbreaks and asymptomatic viral shedding both are less common; and therefore transmission of genital HSV-1 to sex partners appears to be much less frequent. Here are three threads that go into detail about these and other issues. You should find most of the information quite reassuring. Because those discussions answer some of your specific questions, my replies below are brief.
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/Recently-diagnosed-with-Genital-Herpes-HSV1/show/969931
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/HSV-1--devastated/show/1159077
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/Asymptomatic-Shedding-hsv-1/show/1274603
Since your partner already has HSV-1 (he was the source of your infection, after all), he is immune to catching a new HSV-1 infection -- and certainly will not become infected, anywhere on his body, with the same strain of virus he already has. He will not get whitlow or genital herpes by contact with your genital area. Future, different partners could be at risk, but only if they have not previously had HSV-1. Even if not previously infected, the chances of either genital herpes or whitlow from you are low.
What my personal experience with patients is really not relevant. As it happens, I believe I have never seen a patient who acquired genital or oral HSV-1 from a partner with genital HSV-1 infection. Every case of HSV-1 I have ever seen came from a partner's oral infection. But that doesn't mean it can't happen; it can. But it's apparently quite uncommon.
As for whitlow, in 35 years in the STD business, I think I have seen only 2 patients with whitlow, and only a handful with eye infections. Whitlow occurs almost exclusively during the initial HSV infection, not in people with longstanding or recurrent herpes.
Finally, as for asymptomatic shedding: The tests used to detect it in research are very, very sensitive. They detect very minute amounts of HSV DNA, often at levels that are not likely to be easily transmitted. In other words, although it may be true that DNA can be detected 5-10% of the time, the proportion of the time the virus can be transmitted probably is very much lower than that. In any case, the partner who gave your your infection -- and any future partners who already have HSV-1 (as does half the US population) are not susceptible at all.
I hope this helps. Please read the other threads, then let me know if anything remains unclear.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
