Jan 12
7

Can a cold sore develop into genital herpes?

7 Comments
herpes
Salivating Fish asked:


Lets say you touch a cold sore then your privates, would that develop into genital herpes? I though that cold sores were caused by a different strain of herpes than genital herpes. So is it true or not?
GAH! Everybody is contradicting everybody else!

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Posted in Herpes by admin 7 Comments

7 Responses to "Can a cold sore develop into genital herpes?"

  • TNT says:
    January 8, 2012 at 6:58 pm
    Reply

    nope…different strain…

    I get cold sores all the time and touch from mouth to penis and never got genital herpes.

  • rae-rae says:
    January 9, 2012 at 11:26 pm
    Reply

    Yes it’s true, but highly unlikely from hand to genital contact. It can get transmitted through oral sex if someone has a fever blister on their lip. True!

  • canela says:
    January 11, 2012 at 2:15 am
    Reply

    No. It’s a different strain of the virus – similar to the measles virus. Though the genital (Herpes Type 2) virus can cause mouth sores.

    See the attached: “The initial infection may cause no symptoms or mouth ulcers. The virus remains in the nerve tissue of the face. In some people, the virus reactivates and produces recurrent cold sores that are usually in the same area, but are not serious. Herpes virus type 2 usually causes genital herpes and infection of babies at birth (to infected mothers), but may also cause herpes labialis.”

  • A A says:
    January 11, 2012 at 9:31 am
    Reply

    you’re thinking of genital WARTS (the HPV virus)
    genital warts is not the same thing as genital herpes

    but yes it can give you the warts, although it is a slightly different strain of hpv

  • barenakeditalian says:
    January 12, 2012 at 9:29 pm
    Reply

    Both cold sores and genital herpes are herpes just on different spots of the body. If you have a cold sore which is Herpes type 1 (oral) and you are blowing a guy, or eating a girl (not sure which way you swing) then you are putting them at risk of catching herpes type 2 which is genital herpes. There was a doctor who while treating a patient went down on her and she contracted genital herpes because he had a cold sore on his mouth and she sued him because as a Dr. he should have known there was a risk of spreading the virus. This was in the newspaper, don’t know the outcome.
    You’re more likely to get oral herpes from performing oral sex on the infected persons sex organ then the other way around but it is possible. Play it safe.

  • mayflower25 says:
    January 15, 2012 at 7:38 am
    Reply

    It is not a different strain! Herpes type 1 causes most oral cold sores, maybe 95% of people with oral cold sores are infected with this virus.

    Genital herpes can be caused by either herpes type 1 or herpes type 2, the odds these days are about 50/50 on which type it would be. Up to 75% of new genital herpes cases among young women are now caused by hsv-1, usually thought of as the oral herpes virus. It used to be that most genital herpes was caused by type 2, but less children catch oral herpes type 1 now (which gives them a certain immunity against catching it genitally) and the increase in the practice of oral sex has led to a huge increase in the number of people having type 1(oral) herpes genitally. I have type 1 (hsv-1) genitally, from my boyfriend giving me oral sex.

    Transfering herpes from one location on your body to another is actually not that common, though it is possible. The thing is, the fact that you have the virus in one location means you have developed antibodies to protect you against a further attack from the same type of the virus. So it is uncommon if you have oral herpes and touch your genitals after your mouth to get genital herpes, but it can happen so I would say caution is a good thing. It is most likely to happen if you have caught oral herpes recently. Herpes only survives outside the body for a few seconds. One thing that does happen is transfering your oral herpes to your eye by touching your cold sore then rubbing your eyes. There it is called ocular herpes and can be serious, so be wary of doing that too.

  • Trying to do the right thing says:
    January 17, 2012 at 9:35 am
    Reply

    Sort of… the kind you normally get on your mouth is Herpes type 1 (HSV1). The kind you normally get on your genitals is Herpes type 2 (HSV2). You can get type 1 on your genitals which would be “genital herpes,” but it is still type 1, just in a different location. You can also get type 2 on your mouth, but it is still type 2, just in a different location.

    If you develop herpes in a different location than it normally resides, the symptoms tend to be less severe. For instance, type 2 on your mouth is far less likely to reoccur than type 2 on your genitals.

    So, yes, touching a “cold sore” (which is really herpes) then touching your genitals can give you herpes on your genitals. Though it wont be the usual genital strain, it can cause the same symptoms.

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