Herpes transmission with multiple people?

[seamusharper]

I had unprotected oral sex (giving and receiving) as well as protected penetrative sex with a girl I met at a party Saturday night. The whole ordeal probably lasted around 5 minutes.

I later found out that she had had sex with a few other people that night (guys and girls), some before me, some after.

I'm wondering how this effects transmissibility of herpes to me. I have no clue if she has herpes or not but if we assume she does, am I at a far greater risk of getting it since she had multiple encounters that night?

[mr_hopp]

Hey @seamusharper,

The risk of transmitting herpes, whether she has had multiple partners or not on the same night, mainly depends on whether there are active outbreaks and the type of contact. Unprotected oral sex can expose you to genital or oral herpes if she is infected, especially if she had any sores or symptoms. Protected penetrative sex reduces the risk significantly but isn't foolproof, especially for areas not covered by a condom.

The number of partners doesn't inherently increase your risk from the same encounter, but multiple exposures over time would increase your overall risk. You can download the free e-book and handouts for more transmission-related data: https://www.herpesopportunity.com/lp/ebook

It’s always wise to get tested if you have concerns about possible exposure, even if symptoms aren’t present, as herpes can be transmitted without visible signs. However, without any signs or symptoms yourself that would be swabbable at the clinic, you'd have to wait 12-16 weeks before enough antibodies would be detectable by a blood test if you did indeed have herpes.

Let us know if you have any more questions! 

[seamusharper]

Mr. Hopp, thank you for chiming in.

I don't have any signs or symptoms other than fatigue as well as a dull, achy pain on my right abdomen, near the belt line. Is abdominal pain a symptom of a herpes outbreak?