One of my students (12 years old and I’m pretty sure not sexually active) asked to go to the nurse today because she had a cold sore on her mouth and wanted to ice it. It really looked like herpes simplex to me, red and blistery. We talked about it a little. She told me she’s had it since she was 5 years old, didn’t know how she got it.
How would a 5 year old get herpes without something sinister going on? Is it that communicable? I couldn’t help but wonder, though the kid seemed pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. I don’t want to assume anything about transmission, thus am asking people with more expertise.
My stepmother has had it all her life from her mother kissing her goodnight as a child while she had a sore (story confirmed by Grandma).
Um…those pronouns are all whacky, but I’m too tired to fix it. Let’s try again: Woman had “cold sore” (herpes). Woman kissed her little girl good night. Little girl got herpes. Little girl much later became my stepmother. Her mother says, yes, that’s how it happened, stepmother is not hiding some sordid '60s debauchery from us kids.
It *can *be that easily transmitted. We were carefully instructed while growing up never to use the blue towels (those were only mom’s - to this day I can’t buy or use dark blue towels!) and never to drink out of a certain shaped glass that only she used. We also didn’t share food with her when she had an outbreak or was prodromal, and she was very conservative with her kisses, preferring to hug us or cuddle instead. None of us (three kids) caught it - we’re all in our 30s and 40s now.
I have had and still get Herpes blisters (cold sores, etc) since I was very young. They look just like the STD, but they are genetic from my mother. What makes you think there was necessarily something sinister? I didn’t think there was a difference in the look between the simplex I and simplex II other than simplex 1 was predominately orofacial and simplex II was predominately on the genitals.
I can get the blisters from simply stressing out, getting sick, being near my mom, or for seemingly completely random reasons. There doesn’t necessarily have to be anything sexual to cause them.
But, by the way, good on you for asking. You are, I assume, a mandated reporter, and it’s totally understandable that this might make you worry about abuse, as herpes simplex is best known as a sexually transmitted infection. Thank you for taking your job seriously and doing some research to make sure there’s not necessarily anything to worry about. (And, from the other side of the coin, thanks for not flipping out and reporting what would be a baseless accusation before getting the facts straight!)
dgrdfd, I assume you mean you caught the herpes virus from your mother as a very young child, or even infant, like my stepmom did. It’s not a genetic condition. You are right, of course that simplexes I and II can both occur at either location, and neither is a definitive sign of sexual contact.
Yes, thanks for correcting me. That’s what I meant. It’s weird how for some people it doesn’t really seem to be contagious. For instance, I have three brothers. For my mom, me and another brother we get them pretty easily. My father and other brothers have never had them even after sharing drinks, etc.
I’ve always gotten cold sores since I was a kid; I probably got it from my mom who got them too.
My ex (before he was my ex) freaked the hell out the first time I told him not to kiss me because I was getting a cold sore. He thought he’d probably already gotten herpes, like herpes. I told him he might, but not genital herpes or anything. Then he wondered out loud how I got it. Bad choice on his part. I straightened that out pretty quick, but damn, way to make assumptions!!
Herpes simplex 1 (not to mention 2) is definitely easily transmitted, and the Mayo Clinic’s site confirms that you shouldn’t share towels, utensils, etc. with an infected person.
I suspect a friend of mine may have herpes, actually. He complains of cold sores so often I think he may have it. Knowing what he’s been in to, there could be scandal involved, but he’s moaned about them for so long I’m betting it’s probably just something he picked up as a kid.
Err… wait. ARE cold sores and herpes the same thing? Or am I making assumptions based on my limited knowledge?
Yes, recurrent cold sores are almost always herpes. (I say “almost” only because if I don’t, some wise ass will post a link to some obscure African fly larvae that causes cold sores. I’ve never seen a case that wasn’t caused by herpes, but I’ve learned never to say always.) It’s estimated that 80% of the population of the US has the herpes virus, but not all of us with it have frequent outbreaks, and some of us with it *never *have an outbreak.
*Canker *sores, on the other hand, are not herpes. Those happen inside the soft tissue of the mouth and are caused by bacteria. Cold sores are almost always outside the mouth, or occasionally on the roof of the mouth and are caused by herpes.
Ah guys, a cold sore is herpes simplex. Not something that looks like it, it is herpes.
If you look up cold sores in Wiki it redirects you to herpes simplex.
Rick
-who has HSV-1 in on the lips and in one eye, since I was a baby.
I have been getting cold sores since I was about 7 years old. I have no idea how I contracted the herpes virus. I used to get them something terrible. They were very painful, lasted a long time and got huge before they went away. As time progressed I got them less frequently and they were smaller, but they seemed to move outward, as in I would get them on my lips as a child, then in my late 20s & 30s instead of appearing on my lips, I started getting cold sores inside my nose. Man, those hurt. I don’t think I’ve had a cold sore for 5 years now, but if I did get one next winter I wouldn’t be surprised.
First by where it is. Next by size, shape and color. Canker sores are little white blisters inside the lips, soft bits under the tongue or the cheeks. Cold sores are irregular red splotches on the outside of the mouth or on the roof of the mouth. They don’t look a thing alike.
Yes, but between the astigmatism and the herpes scars it is about 20/200 straight ahead. My peripheral vision out of that eye is every bit as good as my good eye. With a contact I can get up to about 20/70 or so straight ahead.
An active infection in my eye is unbelievably painful if the light changes suddenly, like walking outside from a dim interior.
Thank OG I have not had an active infection for over 20 years. (knocks on some wood)
I can’t speak for Rick, but in my case it sucked (and continues to suck) the proverbial rock. When I developed a herpes sore on my right cornea, the standard treatment was to (spoilered for the squeamish):
Cauterize the area with iodine and a curette. In other words, burn up and scrape away the affected tissue.
Of course, this was when I was eight (in 1954); I understand that therapy has advanced a bit since then. But it’s one of my earlier memories, and it hurt.
Nowadays, while I can see light and dark, and vague shapes, I have almost no visual clarity on that side because I’m looking through scar tissue. And it seems that the herpes virus can’t be eradicated completely in the area, so it’s likely to flare up when I get a severe cold (or anything that dampens my immune system).
Rick’s MMV. If it does, I sincerely hope it’s better.
ETA: As R said, there’s also the light factor. For me, one of the first signs of an impending flare is a feeling like getting an icepick through the eye when looking at a bright light.
Herpes can be transmitted to a baby during vaginal birth, ceasarian sections are less likely to tranmit the disease to the baby but still possible depending on degree of infection. Transmission rates for herpes infected moms can run as high as 10% in vaginal deliveries where the mom is active.
So there are plenty of people basically born with it because their mother had it, nothing more insidious than that.
Not all herpes viruses are sexually transmitted. Cold sores are not. And the description in the OP would likely include a differential diagnosis of impetigo, eczema with secondary infection, chicken pox, insect bites and other bullous rashes.
