Okay. So I've kissed probably 15-20 people. And lately I've been kind of worrying about herpes 1 which I read you can get from kissing, which is basically cold sores. And I've read that like 70% of people have it in the united states. I've never had a cold sore and that kind of confuses me. If I kissed 20 people, and each of them kissed 10 before me, even if those people had not kissed anyone else, from the contagiousness of herpes 1 it sounds like I'd have had basically 2000 chances to contract it. I just don't understand why most people I talk to don't have cold sores if it is so common, and why I have not gotten it. My main point is that there's a very hot guy I may wanna kiss but I'm kind of worried cus he seems like the partier kind who probably kissed a thousand people. I mean is herpes 1 really worth worrying about? Do I probably already already have it, just without symptoms? Should I just get over with catching it if it's so common? And people will think ur paranoid if you ask. Thank you!!
If I'm not mistaken you can only get it from someone else if there was a visible sore at the moment you kissed them. Herpes is a virus that is 'asleep' and sometimes becomes active -- that's when people get the sores --. You can only catch it if you kiss someone while it's active (or drink from the same bottle/glass). So... If you didn't see anything abnormal on their mouths, I think you're safe to assume you don't have it. Well, at least that's what they taught me
Yes exactly you can only pass it when it's "active", if it is at sleeping stages( when you cannot see a thing) it wont pass so don't worry!
Oh really? So I've been paranoid for no reason? Well, is there no point it is active that you cannot see?
Yeah I think that is possible too, but rare. As far as I know, most people show symptoms when it's active. I know a few people who have it and their partners just don't kiss them when there are blisters visible; so far they have all managed to stay herpes free On a side note, genital herpes is a whole different story, so don't apply this information to that specific type.
It is. So is holding hands. Actually, just about everything you can do with another person is pretty disgusting if you're thinking about the microbiology of it all. So, why do we do it? Because it's fun. Because it feels good. Because most humans need human contact. The stats say that about 75% to 90% of the human race are herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1) carriers. Most people get HSV-1 from their family, often their mothers. Most of us get it very early in life- often as infants. There does seem to be a connection between genetics and HSV-1 response. Some people have a breakout from their initial infection and it's over. Some people get repeated breakouts from stress- either a "cold sore" or after sun exposure or when they have something stressful going on in their life. Other people get chronic breakouts that become a repeated problem. So, while we think of cold sores as "contagious", the truth is that most of us already are HSV-1 carriers.
cold sores are part of the herpes virus, but its not sti related herpes. you wont catch a cold sore from someone unless it is visable. you will be able to see a sore on the side of the mouth, thats contagious but nothing awful. you can still kiss someone who has one, but you will get one too.... so prob best not to as they take forever to go away! if you do get one, you can use blistex to get rid of it. or any other otc coldsore cream, coldsores arent anything to worry about genital herpes is way different, and you cant get that from kissing someone.
75% is a really big number. Can you show me some source? I'm interested in reading more. It's so big that it's scary!
Its actually not as big of a number as it sounds. At this very moment, there are millions of bacterial and viral cells living on all of our skin, in our mouths, and throughout our bodies. So of which are infectious. Its quite dreadful when you think about it. Cold Sores arent the only ones created by germs. Virtually every bump from pimple to the small unnoticable ones are spawned from bacteria. As for the topic, I wouldnt allow yourself to worry about simply kissing the guy. Though I wouldnt advice any pointless oral contact with people, If you want to kiss him, kiss him. Anything he has is most likely in or on you anyway. Such a happy throught isnt it .
I got specifically tested for HSV's 1 and 2, just to find out. My mum gets cold sores, so i thought i was a good chance of having picked it up. I tested negative to both strains. I'm led to believe that the tests themselves aren't fantastically accurate though, do you have an idea of the frequency of false negatives? I have to decide whether i really should consider myself to have a 100% clean bill of health to defend! hehe
Happy to: A good review of global seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 can be found here: Age-Specific Prevalence of Infection with Herpes Simplex Virus Types 2 and 1: A Global Review Los Angeles county did a very good retrospective of different infectious diseases including some stats on HSV-1 on page 3 in this article: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db90.pdf CDC stats on the incidence of HSV-2 can be found here.
