Possible to get HSV1 genitally if you already have it orally

eichinger · Newbie Joined: 22 May 2005 Posts: 16

I have herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1. I understood that this was the type of virus which predominantly causes oral infections - so called cold sores around your lips. On the other hand, one of my friends claims that having one type of this virus doesn’t mean that you are protected from outbreaks that affect those parts of your body that are not usually affected. In other words, is it possible to have HSV 1 genitally if you already have it orally?

timmi · Silver Member Joined: 01 Feb 2002 Posts: 277

Your friend is undoubtedly right, just because one of the viruses is labelled HSV 1 and the other HSV 2 it doesn’t mean that the former afflicts only the mouth area and the latter only the genital area. On the contrary, interchanges between them are quite common. So, to make the long story short, you can get symptoms on your genital area if you are diagnosed with HSV 1 just as easily as you can get cold sores around your mouth if you are diagnosed with HSV 2. This means that you have to avoid unnecessary touching of any part of the body which has sores and lesions typical of this infection. After touching it always wash your hands with hot water and soap. This should greatly reduce the probability of transmitting the virus from one part of your body to another. The good thing is that the virus itself is not resistant to high temperatures and very, very soon after leaving the body it dies.

Possible to get HSV1 genitally if you already have it orally

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