My girlfriend and I both have HSV1. What risks are we looking at?
February 27, 2014 6:16 PM   Subscribe

My girlfriend has HSV1 genitally, with outbreaks 1-2 times a year. I just found out from my doctor that I tested positive for HSV1 back when I first became sexually active in 2005 (not sure why I wasn't informed back then, but I suppose that's a different story...). I've never had symptoms, I imagine it's an oral infection from childhood and I'm getting a full STI screening to reconfirm. What does this mean in terms of risks or lack thereof with my girlfriend? Can HSV1 reinfect different locations? Are there different strains of HSV1? Up to now, we've been using protection for penetrative intercourse, changing condoms when switching from vaginal to anal intercourse, and basically avoiding oral-vaginal contact. My doctor was relatively vague when it came to these questions ("I think you would be at lower risk.") and I'd like a bit more information upon which to base my future decisions given this new information.
posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (3 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite

 
This answer on Go Ask Alice might have some of the information you're looking for.
posted by ocherdraco at 8:57 PM on February 27, 2014


Boy howdy is the CDC website great for this kind of info.
posted by undercoverhuwaaah at 8:40 AM on February 28, 2014


I'm not an expert. But a little info at the bottom of this page about testing being a bit inconclusive which you may want to research more: http://consults.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/getting-tested-for-herpes/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

HSVI can reinfect in different locations but it's uncommon. I'm sorry; it sucks to try to do risk assessments for this when the transmission information isn't really clear.
posted by metasarah at 2:03 PM on February 28, 2014


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