I was told that I had type 1 in my genital area but, I have read type 2 is genital herpes and type 1 is your mouth. I have different people telling me I should get retested because they say that genital herpes is type 2 only not type 1. I don't know what to believe any more. ...
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Is 1.10 a false positive test of herpesII
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Hi CandidDreams, my name is Camilo and I am monitoring this sharepost community. I am not a healthcare practitioner and thus I cannot offer you any proffessional advice. I can, however, attempt to answer your question by directing you to the appropriate information within our site. Your question is a common question that confuses many people. The information you have read is correct: HSV1 (type 1) is vastly responsible for oral herpes infections and HSV2 (type 2) is responsible for most genital herpes infections. However, the entire picture is not that simple. Although most genital herpes infections are caused by HSV2 (type 2), HSV1 (type 1) can also cause genital herpes infections. It may be simpler to understand this if you can imagine that a virus is a pathogen that is transmitted from one individual's tissue to anothers. Thus if someone with HSV1 (type 1) oral herpes performs oral sex on an individual's genital area (assuming transmission is successful) then the individual who received the oral sex will now have HSV1 (type 1) genital herpes. Our expert, Dr. Grayson wrote a couple of great articles that further explain and answer your question. I highly suggest you read them. The following are links to the articles:
Transmitting Herpes: How To Protect The Ones You Love
Genital Herpes from Oral Sex?
Can I Transmit Herpes Through Kissing?
The Truth About HSV1, HSV2, and Oral Sex
I hope my response was helpful. If you have any other questions or concerns do not hesitate to continue posting them. Thank you once again for contributing to our community and don't forget to consult your healthcare practitioner before adopting any new knowledge into practice.
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