I have had herpes for almost 20 years. Unfortunatly, I didn't figure it out until after I was married. I am blessed to have really mild OBs, I dismissed lesions as pimples, because they're not painful and OBs are infrequent (1-2 times/year). My husband was very understanding and to date he has never had an OB, (as far as we know) and we've been married for more than 15 years. I am a mother of 2 teenage daughters and I have always been terrified since the day they were born that I have somehow given this to them inadvertently. I have read how some people are infected but asymptomatic or have mild symptoms like myself...if this is true, how can I be sure that I have not given this to my husband and daughters?

Questions for you:
-Is it possible that my husband and I have contracted this on our hands (while we were both clueless that I had it) and then given it to our daughters during diaper changes? We both do not have a memory of having blisters on our hands but sometimes it's mild or asymptomatic, right?

-Another question that I could not find an answer to is related to our beloved family dog. This sounds gross but for some reason he likes to get into my bathroom garbage and chew up used pantiliners, yuk, i know!! I realize my dog can not contract human herpes but how long would the virus live in/on his mouth after he's been dumpster diving...could he infect my kids by licking them after this disgusting activity?

-I know soap kills the virus but does the dryer on high heat kill the herpes virus too? I do use soap but I have always found reassureance that our clothes have been baking in the dryer for 40 plus minutes. My girls are now at the age where our underwear gets mixed up sometimes...they have accidentally worn my clean underwear at times and this has caused great anxiety for me too.

-Do you recommend that my husband and/or daughters be tested? There have been 2 times in the past that I brought my daughters in to their pediatrician and specifically asked if a lesion could be herpes (one on my daughter's buttock, and a blister under my daughter's nose), both times they said no, it was not herpes. Both times the lesions disappeared before I could get in to a dermatologistat to confirm this and there was no blood test available at that time. I would love to hear your feedback on this...thanks

Again, thank you for answering these questions and those of others like me. I've gotten so much helpful information from previous posts. Herpes has been the cause of years of anxiety since my daughters were born.

You are worrying needlessly!! We NEVER have the type of contact it takes to transmit herpes to our children and doing everyone's laundry together is never a risk - even if you never even used soap let alone the dryer!!! The virus doesn't live that long on clothing to be transmitted that way. Your children absolutely do not need tested for herpes to see if they contracted it from you. when they start to be sexually active ( YIKES!! ) they and their partners should discuss oral herpes and consider getting tested for it since 1 out of every 3 teenagers has hsv1 orally and most never get obvious cold sores to know it. Also encourage them to only have protected oral sex too - both giving and receiving. hsv1 genitally is the most common cause of genital herpes for teens so they need to be aware of it and protect themselves against it.

Should your husband be tested for herpes to know his own status? If he's never been tested in the time you've been together, indeed he should be. That way you know his status and know if at this point if you still need to be concerned or not about transmission to him.

How were you originally diagnosed all those years ago?

betsy

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Thank you so much for your reply...

I was diagnosed by my GYN before our daughters were born when I had a bump...the doctor said that the recurrent symptoms and my descrpition made it probable, she wasn't able to culture anything. I don't always have full OBs...most of the time I get a bump or two without it going to a full erupting blister. But I have had the full blisters too.

Like others with this anxiety, answers usually raise more questions! I hope I can assume that the transmission due to our family dog raiding the garbage is not a concern? Also, If my husband does test positive and he has never had any known visable symptoms, should he have been more careful over the years? For example, after washing his hands he typically uses his own bath towel to dry them off. Could he then get the virus back on his hands from the damp bath towel and then transfer it to our daughters during diaper changes, etc.?

I realize this is obsessive/compulsive, I have definately developed OCD since being diagnosed. Your answers and posts are helping me to deal with the anxiety of passing this to our children, thanks again!

You also should confirm your status with type specific herpes igg blood testing. just a visual diangosis of herpes is inadequate.

the dog is not an issue. It's human herpes virus and isn't contagious to dogs.

Like I said - we never have the sort of contact it takes to transmit the virus to our children. Hubby having it wouldn't be a risk to the kids with diaper changes.

betsy

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ASHA Moderator