Sex Ed with Guli Fager

Dear Guli,
My friends and I were having an argument about herpes, and one of my friends said he heard that you can’t get herpes in your genital area from someone who has cold sores on his or her mouth. Is that right?
Tripp

Dear Tripp,
Cold sores that appear on the mouth or lips are caused by herpes simplex 1 (HSV-1) and can indeed be transmitted to the genital area. According to a 2003 study published in the Journal of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, more than 70 percent of college students who are diagnosed with genital herpes were found infected with HSV-1 and are assumed to have been exposed to the virus during oral sex. HSV-1 is traditionally thought of as “oral” herpes and HSV-2 as “genital,” but both viruses can infect either area.

I counsel students diagnosed with herpes who report that they consistently use condoms for vaginal sex but never for oral sex, and this behavior puts them at risk for HSV-1 if they engage in oral sex with a partner who has cold sores. According to the American Social Health Association, between 50 and 80 percent of the US population has HSV-1 in the mouth, so there is a significant likelihood that college students engaging in unprotected oral sex will come into contact with an infected partner at some point.

In order to reduce the risk of HSV transmission during oral sex, use condoms (for oral sex on men) and dental dams (for oral sex on women) as barriers. If you are allergic to latex, you can use a polyurethane condom or a sheet of plastic wrap in place of a dental dam.

You can also ask your partners if they have ever had cold sores — many people don’t make the connection between cold sores and HSV-1 because most are infected by their parents during childhood and not through sexual contact.

If you experience symptoms of herpes — which can range from blisters to small cut-like lesions to irritation that looks like razor burn — in your genital area, you can get testing and treatment at University Health Services, including a test that will determine if you are infected with HSV-1 or HSV-2.

Got a burning question (or a burning sensation)? E-mail Guli Fager, healthy sexuality education coordinator for UHS at g.fager@uhs.utexas.edu.

Comments

3 comments

Bill Clinton

Fri Mar 6 2009 13:17

Trust me kids, BJs with condoms are not that great, mmkay? What you need to do is find some cute, chubby little intern who probably hasn't had a whole lot of sex in her life, so she probably doesn't have any diseases. Second point is, kids, you've got to make sure you only get the BJ. We all know HJs suck, am I right? Definitely don't go all the way unless you want to marry her or knock some slut up like my good friend, John Edwards. Now I love John to death, guys, but when he told me that Hunter slut wasn't gonna have the abortion, I was ashamed to know him, because you know, getting some campaign worker pregnant when your wife has cancer is political suicide, and I can't be involved in something like that. Anyway, just stay in school and stick to BJs, kids.

Caleb Dzul

Fri Mar 6 2009 09:30

If you have to use a sheet of plastic wrap...hmm, just skip that part I think

Tom Harrick

Fri Mar 6 2009 04:52

Asking your partner about coldsores won't help much. The ASHA states that only 10% of carriers have symptoms, and in most countries 80%+ of people carry at least one of the 2 herpes simplex viruses. The chances are you won't have symptoms either. You could just as easily be infected by someone with an obvious coldsore as someone without. Look up studies on "asymptomatic shedding". Herpes is common, and normal.

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