Transmission of herpes (HSV2)

[Herpesaurasrex]

So I have HSV2, I was wondering the chances of spreading the virus in different situations. Say if I got oral what are the chances of my partner getting it? If I gave oral would I spread HSV2 to them? Obviously sex should be used with a condom since I know genital to genital contact has very high chances of spreading. How can I make possible partners feel more comfortable about having sexual interactions with me? Thanks!

[mr_hopp]

Have you downloaded the handouts yet? All those kinds of questions are answered thoroughly there. Here are links to those:

http://bit.ly/h-opp-diagnosis-handout

http://bit.ly/h-opp-disclosure-handout

 

... and here are related blog articles:

http://herpeslife.com/spreading-genital-herpes-hsv2-from-oral-sex/

http://herpeslife.com/rates-of-herpes-transmission/

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

 

"If I gave oral would I spread HSV2 to them?"

No, you would not spread genital HSV-2 to them if you gave them oral since you don't have HSV-2 on your mouth (only 1% of people who have HSV-2 have it orally, so it's super rare).

 

"I know genital to genital contact has very high chances of spreading"

Actually the chances are quite low when you look at the percentages on the handouts: even without condoms and suppressive therapy (when you're not having an outbreak, of course), 10% chance of passing it from men to women, 4% chance of passing it from women to men even without condoms and suppressive therapy. Then you might ask why so many people have herpes? Ignorance. People who have herpes and are in denial and end up having sex unprotected is where I assume the vast majority of new cases come from. That's why knowledge is the best safety measure.

[heat]

As far as I understand from talking with an informed healthcare practitioner, HSV2 is only passed genital to genital, not genital to mouth, or mouth to genital as the mouth one is HSV1 - but as Adrial pointed out, HSV2 can be oral but it's super rare. HSV1, if you have it genitally, cannot be passed to the mouth of your partner.

 

I think it's a good idea for everyone to ask their partner if they get cold sores or feel like they are getting one and then if they have one to definitely avoid them going down on you or if you have one don't go down on them. But if neither of you has one on your mouth, oral should be okay from what I understand!