Question about herpes and its contagion.

@bigred60 Oh, that's cool. I meant like, never had an outbreak at that time. In those three + years. Yet was still some how contagious enough to transmit it...

Does that make sense?
 
@gloriabex Is it possible they had a small outbreak but maybe somewhere less visible/noticeable, like inside their lip? Not saying you are wrong at all, just that they would have had to be shedding virus to have infected you, so it's a bit alarming that this is possible with no symptoms at all. People say this was the case with COVID (asymptomatic transmission) but I think often times people just had very light/minor symptoms and went out without thinking much of it.
 
@gloriabex Yes I am such a strict person with people kissing her. Even my mom. She breaks every boundary I set with her. She has previously let her drink soda from her glass before even tho I had let her know that no one shares a glass with my child and she is not allowed to drink soda! And both were broken. I’m so sorry to hear that. That’s exactly what I try to avoid.
 
@katrina2017 Yes I honestly questioned the whole thing because I have never heard about this. But she ended up showing me her test results because I straight up told her I don’t believe it, and it did say it was positive. She had a skin test of the rash.
 
@katrina2017 No idea why you're being downvoted as this is true. I have a feeling the votes are being contaminated by overanxious parents vs people who think HSV should be normalized (even though I don't see anyone here stigmatizing it, just arguing for a baseline of prudence.)

I've also gotten a lot of pushback when I bring up how I got infected - I was infected indirectly, across a dinner table. Apparently people find this idea upsetting and tend to insist that indirect infection is impossible and I must have been ACTUALLY infected from an alternate mystery source (and not the only person present with a massive weeping sore, right...) or else that I came with an HSV infection somehow already built in (this one is even more nonsensical, because that is just not how viruses work. The INITIAL infection is not latent, so I would have known if I already had HSV.)

That said, it only takes one quick toddler-sized swipe to transfer whatever is on her cheek to her eye, nose, or mouth. I think OP was right to go in for a quick scrub.
 
@katrina2017 I have no idea. I assume from aerosolized microdroplets? Or else fomite transmission from the food (there was a lazy susan) but I think this is far less likely as I was watching the dishes like a hawk and didn't touch anything that passed near my cousin. His sore probably covered half his face and was visibly oozing. I thought I did everything I could to avoid infection, but it didn't occur to me to simply leave.
 
@katrina2017 It's been a while so I don't remember exactly but I believe 2 or 3 days later. I couldn't immediately tell it was a cold sore, at first it didn't hurt and just felt like weirdly textured skin. Then at some point it changed color and started looking similar to the sore my cousin had and that's when I realized I had gotten infected.
 
@katrina2017 yeah, I'm sure it isn't a common occurence, I was just very unlucky. But it has made me far more conscientious when I do get outbreaks (which are thankfully very infrequent). I mask up as soon as I notice a cold sore erupting (even pre-COVID.)
 
@msavage If this post is real and your mom has HSV2, then I have no idea why you would take your daughter around your mom. It sounds like she has no respect for your reasonable rules.
 
@alexnobi Second this. My MIL has HSV and asked if we had any rules while she visited when our kid was 10 months. My one rule: no kissing (goes for anyone, not just her). She immediately tried to ask for an exception. We should've told her right then and there not to bother visiting.

She ended up having a meltdown about something else and smashing plates in our home. We are no contact with her now.
 
@alexnobi I had no idea she had this when I showed up, I’m not sure what version of herpes she has but it’s on the lip. I immediately saw it and told her to keep her hands and lips of my LO. I noticed she didn’t respect my wishes and left after 15 min. And I’m beating myself up because I feel like I should have already known from history that she don’t listen to a word I say. Now I’m worried the damage is already done, a lot of people is writing that it’s not necessary so. And I’m hoping it’s not.
 
@msavage I think the 2 types of outbreaks look different, so you could image search HSV1 and HSV2 outbreaks if you dare. My impression is that HSV1 is typically small “cold sores” and HSV2 is bigger lesions that are much more obvious.
 
@msavage I’m an adult who gets cold sores. I’ve gotten them since forever. I’m very careful when I have an outbreak, but I will say, cold sores aren’t that terrible. If she gets them, it’s not the end of the world. The concerning part is your mother. It’s easy for strangers to type these sorts of things on the internet, but it’s a very emotional decision for you. Speaking as someone who has very limited contact with my toxic mother, you need to distance yourself.
 
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