Curiosity about herpes & oral sex

[kaberett.livejournal.com]

Okay, so I know that:

* there's a ~5% chance of passing on herpes (HSV) without an outbreak, because viral load can be high enough to cause shedding without causing an outbreak
* people with one form of HSV orally are somewhat protected against contracting the other form genitally
* herpes can spread within the body - e.g. mouth herpes --> eye herpes or brain herpes, plus you're supposed to be extra-careful about washing your hands during outbreaks (though I'm not 100% clear on the reasoning)

... but! A couple exists. Both have oral herpes (cold sores). Neither contracted oral herpes sexually, so let's say for the sake of argument that they've both got HSV1 orally (because as far as I'm aware that's still most likely).

Does anyone know of any stats on how likely they are to contract HSV1 genitally from each other via oral sex if neither has an outbreak, or by touching their own genitals after touching an active sore?

Disclaimers: I have oral herpes and I know a couple in the situation described above, and suddenly realised I should know the answer - this isn't me deciding that it's fun to play hypothetical games.

Thank you! <3

Comments

[arianna-meli.livejournal.com]

I can tell you it is definitely possible. How likely is it? Hard to say. But it's 100% possible and it's becoming more and more common to get HSV1 genitally.

[knittinggoddess.livejournal.com]

it's becoming more and more common to get HSV1 genitally.
Could you expand on this a bit more, please? The way it's phrased sounds like HSV is getting better at migrating to different spots, or that science is getting better at identifying the specific strain at specific locations.

[arianna-meli.livejournal.com]

Sure. I did a lot of research on the subject because it happened to me. My boyfriend had the beginnings of a cold sore, unbeknownst to him, and through oral sex, I got HSV1 genitally. I was merely stating that many people aren't aware that it is possible to get HSV1 on your genitals.

[kaberett.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[archangelbeth]

If their immune systems are good, then their antibodies should have an Extremely Good chance of protecting them from a genital infection, either from themselves or each other. (Assuming that they both have HSV-1, and since HSV-2 doesn't tend to have recurring outbreaks orally... HSV-1 is a good assumption.) Nothing is 100%, but antibodies are pretty potent. I have heard of one person on VP who did unfortunately get oral-to-genital auto-transmission (touched mouth, then touched genitals before the virus died), but that person identified as having a poor immune system at the time.

One of the things herpes does, though -- the naughty, crafty little bug(ger...) -- is depress the immune system a little, so it can have an outbreak. This is a good reason to do hand-washing when you know you've got an outbreak, so you don't auto-transmit it to yourself when your immune system is under attack. It's also just good not to tempt Murphy, and therefore abstain from giving oral sex when one is having an outbreak.

(And, regarding little kids? Just do NOT kiss their teeny eyelids at all. The risk/benefit of eyelid-kissing is pretty firmly on the side of "it will not do anything bad to you to refrain from even the slightest bit of exposure, but if a kid did get eye-herpes, that would be EXTREMELY BAD.")

For a more concrete bit of anecdata... I have oral herpes too, and my spouse "thinks he remembers having cold sores as a kid." Despite at least one occasion where oral funtimes were had and I then walked into the bathroom to realize that my lip had just swollen up like a balloon in the pre-blister stage... He's never evidenced any sores anywhere, oral or genital, in the over-20-years that I've known him.

(HSV can be tricky in penis-possessing-people, though -- if a mild outbreak happens in that long penile urethra, that can conceal the whole issue or make it seem like a UTI.)

Hope that's helpful!

[kaberett.livejournal.com]

Awesome - thank you! :-)