Herpes and one night stand

[Missmissy]

Hooked up with a guy yesterday, he told me he’s “clean” but I also found out his ex gf has genital herpes after the fact.
 

im worried I exposed myself and am wondering what my next step should be.  I want to get tested but not sure when’s the best time? Two weeks? Should I just wait and see if I get an outbreak? 
 

I have ohsv1 and I’m unsure whether his ex has hsv1 or 2. I know I really shouldn’t be worried if he has ghsv1 but since I don’t know, I’m sick to my stomach! 
 

would love to get some ppls experience with hsv2? How long after sex did the outbreak come? When should I get tested? 
 
 

 

[mr_hopp]

Hi @Missmissy,

There are varying degrees of risk when it comes to having sex with a carrier of HSV, all dependent on a host of factors, including what strain of herpes they have (HSV-1 or HSV-2), whether you used barrier protection or not, whether he's taking daily suppressive herpes medication, how long he's had herpes (the longer, the less asymptomatic viral shedding), where he has experienced outbreaks in the past, etc.

But overall, the chances of you getting herpes during that one encounter if he wasn't having an outbreak are small. For women, it's a 2.5% chance per year of getting herpes if barrier protection and suppressive medication is used. The only way to know for sure if you got herpes is, like you said, to wait. You wait to either get an outbreak (which you can then get directly swabbed by a doctor), or you wait at least 12-16 weeks from exposure before getting a herpes blood test since that's how long it can take before antibodies reach detectable levels.