What are the chances of contracting HSV from oral sex?

Question

Hello doctor,

I accidentally gave my boyfriend oral sex about a month ago while I had what I thought was a healed cold sore. I took Valtrex and used Zovirax for healing. The cold sore began on Tuesday, and the oral sex happened a few days later at night. It was brief, mainly using it as lubrication for less than a minute. The sore crusted over by Saturday night and was gone by Monday.

On day 19 post-exposure, my boyfriend began experiencing body aches, a clogged ear, cough, and sore throat, but no fever or lesions. It has now been about a month, and he still has these symptoms, especially the cough, which has not improved. What are the chances he contracted HSV? Does this sound like an outbreak starting? How long do flu-like symptoms typically last before blisters appear with HSV?

Please help.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I went through your query.

As you have rightly suspected, herpes is a contagious infection and can spread through oral sex.

However, each virus has a contact period during which its infectivity is the highest, and after that, the risk of transmission is negligible.

In the case of herpes, the virus is contagious during the initial 2 to 12 days of incubation period and up to seven days after the onset of symptoms until sores have completely healed.

Also, if infected, the person develops new lesions within the incubation period of 2 to 12 days after the exposure.

In your case, your partner has not developed any blisters suggestive of herpes. Also, the symptoms that you have mentioned are not typical for herpetic infection. Cough, phlegm, clogged ear, and aches are not usually seen with herpes and are more likely suggestive of sinusitis or upper respiratory tract infection.

You could consult a physician for the same.

I hope this helps.

Thanks and regards.