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Hi, I Have Been Researching About HSV-1 . It's Clear

Posted on Mon, 10 Aug 2020

Question: Hi, I have been researching about HSV-1. It's clear that a lot of people have it and this by itself can be an indication how easilly it can spread. Particularly I have pointed my attention to HSV-1 that be asymptomatic or can have mild symptoms that go unrecognized. The first part of the question is, how likely is the virus to be present at the saliva of the person if he had HSV-1 before, assuming there is no active outbreak at the moment. The second part is, how likely can someone transmit HSV-1 from the saliva out of kissing or lip to lip when there is no outbreak. If there is no such risk, does it become a risk on the first day of the outbreak where the infected person may not be aware of it? Thank you.

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Kakkar (0 minute later)

Hi, I have been researching about HSV-1. It's clear that a lot of people have it and this by itself can be an indication how easilly it can spread. Particularly I have pointed my attention to HSV-1 that be asymptomatic or can have mild symptoms that go unrecognized. The first part of the question is, how likely is the virus to be present at the saliva of the person if he had HSV-1 before, assuming there is no active outbreak at the moment. The second part is, how likely can someone transmit HSV-1 from the saliva out of kissing or lip to lip when there is no outbreak. If there is no such risk, does it become a risk on the first day of the outbreak where the infected person may not be aware of it? Thank you.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Kakkar (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Regarding HSV 1 transmission

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to ask a doctor service. I have gone through your query and noted your concern.

HSV type 1 is shed from time to time from the mucous membranes of asymptomatic cases I.e it may be present at times when the virus has multiplied whereas absent at other times. Shedding is not a continuous process. So, kissing and saliva carry a low risk of transmission from asymptomatic cases. Since, the shedding is more and consistent around the outbreak when it may even precede the outbreak as well as continue for days after the outbreak has subsided. Therefore, kissing around an outbreak (even on the first day of it!) carries a high risk of transmission. The risks have not been clearly stated, due to the fact that HSV is asymptomatic in a large proportion of cases and the first outbreak may not necessarily be due to new infection from the last person that someone kissed. The infection may have already been there! and was perhaps dormant.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if you need any more assistance.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Answered by Dr. Dr. Kakkar (0 minute later)

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Kakkar (2 hours later)

Hi Dr Kakkar,

Thank you for your detailed and prompt reply. It’s clearer though I’d ask the following?

When french-kissing a person when the HSV-1 is assymptomatic/dormant, to better understand the ‘low risk’ of transmission in percentage terms % what is the average chance of contacting it? I’m asking because both 0.1% and say 4% may both be seen as low risk.

Is there any official published material on the likelihood of this type of transmission when its HSV is assymptomatic/dormant? Thank you.

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Kakkar (0 minute later)

Answered by Dr. Dr. Kakkar (22 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Regarding HSV 1 transmission

Detailed Answer:
Hi.
It is believed that the risk of transmission from kissing an asymptomatic person with HSV type 1 is about 0.5-1%. There are no such official figures on CDC website but some textbooks on STDs mention those figures.
Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D