OK. So I thought I'd get back to posting the really important stuff. So I took off my Whiny Pee Pants Coco Hat and put on my Herpes Educator Hat.
Enjoy these fascinating tidbits regarding herpes transmission. And ----- Read the blog post! Ya YOU! You know who you are! If you haven't read it, you absolutely should!
Remember: Condoms are your friend!
###
Hello,
I hope this email finds you well, I read your blog post about herpes and need to ask some questions please 🙏🏻.
I met a girl and I will fly over to meet her. She recently disclosed she has GHSV2 and has had it for 28 years.
At first I was nervous and kinda worried but after I read your blog post (A completely boring HERPES educational blog post that you should absolutely read anyway), it made me calm because I really like this woman but I want to protect myself from getting the virus.
I agreed to wearing a condom and she agreed to take antivirals to reduce the transmission rate.
I know rates of female to male transmission are lower but I wanna check is it safe to give and receive oral sex? Because I really want to go down on her and give her oral sex but I'm kinda scared.
Also, my second question, if she has had it for 28 years will it be less contagious?
Thank you again and hope to hear from you soon.
Sam
###
Sam! Congrats on meeting someone special!
Based on my research, the incidence of HSV-2 oral infection is about 1%. Therefore, 99% of the time, oral transmission is HSV-1 and not HSV-2. So you are more likely to get HSV-1 from your person by kissing 🙂 Which you should do a lot of!
And remember, HSV-1 is very common, you may already have HSV-1. And by the way, I'm HSV-1 negative, which is super weird, because I have kissed a lot of boys in my 59 years! Yay ME!
I recommend you get a full STI screen before you are intimate, including specifically asking for the Western Blot. This will tell you if you are positive or negative for HSV-1 or HSV-2 or both.
If your doctor pushes back on you for the herpes blood test, push back on them. You have a right to know this stuff! The more information you have about yourself and about your partner, the better informed decisions you will make about your sexual health.
If you're one of the 2/3 of the world's population that has HSV-1, you needn't be concerned about being infected with HSV-1 from your friend, either orally or genitally.
As far as rates of HSV-2 genital to genital transmission, if you avoid sex during active outbreaks, your partner is on daily anti-virals, and you use a condom, the instance of HSV-2 transmission, female to male, is about 1%. That's having sex routinely with one partner over one year's time. So yes, there's a risk. There's a risk to everything we do. In this case, it's very low, and from what you say, sounds like she's more than worth it!
Furthermore, if she's had HSV-2 for 28 years, it is unlikely she has frequent outbreaks. She might not have them at all anymore. However, there is still asymptomatic viral shedding. So regardless of how long she's had it and how infrequent her outbreaks, condoms are your friend!
I did a little more Googling and found this article. It's very good. I'm going to add the link to the educational blog post.
Hope this answers. Good luck and HAVE FUN!
Love,
Coco
Comments