If I have GENITAL Herpes, is my saliva contagious too?

[Sportygirl1123]

I am really just asking for my kids' sake. I was just diagnosed Thur with genital herpes. Don't know if it is 1 or 2 yet, but I think it is 1. I keep hearing "skin to skin" contact is how it's transmitted. Isn't a kiss, skin to skin? I am really just confused about "shedding" in general. When I think of the word "shedding", I think of a dog shedding, and they shed from EVERYWHERE. Are all my secretions from my body infected? (Eyes, nose, mouth, vaginal, zits, ect)?

[whitedaisies]

Well, let me clarify a few things for you and then usually our more experienced members chimes in.

 

I have kids as well, so I totally understand your fear. If you have genital herpes only, and not oral herpes, that means you are only shedding from the boxer short region of your body....nowhere else. You will be shedding during prodome or outbreaks and also during asymptomatic shedding. There are some great tools on here so browse this site.

 

You cannot get it from holding hands with your kids or kissing them. Personally, I know I am overcautious, but I use one bathroom to shower and use the toilet and sinks and no one else can use them. This is extreme though as I know Dancer has children and they shared lots and none of them got anything. I am doing it so as not to fuel more anxiety, dealing with H is enough for me right now.

 

Skin to skin contact means the area of your boxer short region there needs to be lots of rubbing there and you don't do that wiht your children so I would not worry at all.

 

Good luck and don't worry, your children are safe. Take reasonable precautions especially when you have an outbreak and you will all be fine.

[ihaveittoo]

Hello Sportygirl,

 

Herpes is spread by skin on skin contact. Although saliva can be icky for alot of reasons, transmiting herpes is not one.

[mr_hopp]

Hi Sportygirl and welcome!

 

Here are some helpful links to check out from our blog:

http://herpeslife.com/how-can-you-get-herpes/

http://herpeslife.com/what-is-herpes-asymptomatic-viral-shedding/

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-prodrome-symptoms

[Sportygirl1123]

Thank you all for your responses! And thank you Adrial for the warm welcome. I've been researching so much, trying to convince myself that I did not have it. Now I have to focus on "now what?". So you will probably see more questions of mine in various forums. Once again, thank you all!

[WCSDancer2010]

As mentioned, I've had 2 kids AND I not only have G-H2, I have O-H1 ... and even with having oral herpes, I never passed it to them and we shared drinks (I break out on the left side of my mouth so I sip from the right and barely touch the vessel it's in if I share), kisses (just not when I had an OB and again, on the right side), lots of baths together when they were young, etc.

 

You may want to check out the following links as well as the FAQ's section... and read all the discussions that you can - 99% of what people ask on here has been answered probably a dozen times already ... LOL ;)

 

Handouts + disclosure e-book:

http://eepurl.com/b4IPP

 

FAQs:

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-forum/discussion/1758/frequently-asked-questions-on-herpes-and-popular-conversations

 

(((HUGS)))