Question: My boyfriend has herpes. Are there any chances that he might have given it to me? This is my first relationship and I’ve never had sex with anyone else earlier. How do I find out if I’ve been infected with genital herpes?
Answer: We are glad that your boyfriend had the courage to confront this. Due to the stigma attached with sexually transmitted infections, many people choose not to do so. Anyway, if your boyfriend has herpes, there are chances that you might have it too. Although using a condom would lower your chances of contracting the infection, it isn’t 100% effective. Remember, herpes tends of transmit through direct physical contact as well.
Symptoms may begin with tingling, shivering, soreness and uneasiness in the region influenced. There can likewise be general influenza like symptoms with spinal pain, cerebral pain, temperature, hurting and gentle swelling of the lymph organs in the crotch, armpits and neck.
It in general takes two to fourteen days after contact for the main symptoms of genital herpes to show up, with 4 to 5 days being the most widely recognized incubation time period. A few people never get it. Others get it yet demonstrate no symptoms.
We suggest you visit your healthcare provider and get a test done. The doctor might collect a sample from what appears to be a genital herpes sore. You can also have a blood test, which would check for antibodies to the virus that your immune system would have made as part of the defense mechanism against the herpes simplex virus – 2. The test is capable of detecting antibodies to HSV – 1 (oral herpes) as well as HSV – 2 (genital herpes).
If it is confirmed that you’re infected, the healthcare provider would give you antiviral drugs that would boost your immunity to fight against the virus. This way, you’d experience less severe outbreaks that would last for a shorter period of time.
