We both have HSV2. Will I trigger his outbreak?

[Lalalauren]

Hi all --

 

I'm pretty new to all this. I've been in a serious relationship with a man who disclosed to me long before we had sex. A year later and I have it now.

 

If we have sex during an outbreak, will it trigger the others outbreak?

[mr_hopp]

Hey lala,

 

Best thing to do would be to not have sex during an outbreak. Auto-inoculation is uncommon after your body has enough time to develop antibodies, but it's still a possibility, and during an outbreak is when the most virus is active on the skin, so you wouldn't want to spread it elsewhere.

 

And as far as both of you having the same strain of herpes, they don't impact each other when you're not having an active outbreak. Auto-inoculation in people with good immune systems is pretty much impossible from asymptomatic viral shedding alone.