Scarleteen

Hi there,
I’ve recently been diagnosed with a viral eye infection. My doctor prescribed Zovirax, which according to the packaging is only used for ocular herpes infections. But, before receiving the medication I asked her how I got the infection, and she said the same way one would get conjunctivitis (touching an infected surface, then my eye). She didn’t mention herpes.

I had the infection for a few days prior to seeing the doctor, and have had eye problems before so I wasn’t particularly careful about what I was touching. I’ve never had a cold sore before, but if this is a herpes infection in my eye, is it possible for me to transmit the virus to other parts of my body, e.g genitals?

Ultimately, these are questions best asked of your doctor, who I suggest you bring them to.

In the meantime, here's a succinct answer to this from Johns Hopkins, here: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/johns_h ... of_my_body (Note: ocular herpes is apparently an HSV-1 infection. Issues with an illness of the eyes are outside my knowledge as a sex educator, so I had to look it up to get some information on it.)

Can herpes be transmitted to other parts of my body?
If you have genital herpes or orofacial herpes, you cannot transmit the infection to another part of your body after the initial infection occurs. If you have genital HSV II, you will not get HSV II at another site in your body. The body produces antibodies that protect other parts of your body from infection. However, there are cases where an individual has multiple site infections from the same virus. This is usually acquired at the time of the initial infection. For example, if an individual has oral and genital sex with an infected partner, they can acquire the infection at both sites because they are susceptible at that time.

Hi Heather, thank you for that. As you might know from my previous posts, I’ve tried really quite hard to avoid the HSV simplex and was gutted to find out my doctor thinks that it was likely the cause. We’re doing a blood test to find out for sure, but I’ve heard mixed things about the accuracy of blood tests for HSV. Are blood tests considered accurate?

hi aj2234,

Again, your doctor is the person who can answer these questions for you. I wonder if your questioning the accuracy of blood tests is linked to the anxious feelings you mentioned in your other post?

Also, can you tell me what it is about the prospect of a HSV infection that you find so distressing?

Hi Sian,

I was wondering about the blood test as I know they're not routinely included in all sexual health screenings, so I was just a bit confused about that.

I'm not sure to be honest, I've had an issue with it for the longest time. I think part of the fear stems from the virus being both out of control and, if I did get it, something that's my 'fault'. But, this issue stems well beyond cold sores, and is something I'm discussing with a therapist.

I think also I'm disappointed at the prospect of potentially having to change my sexual behaviour, e.g. unprotected oral sex with my monogamous partner.

Finally, I think the general stigma around cold sores/herpes, and the fact that people can make some really insensitive jokes or comments about it makes me anxious, as I don't want to be on the receiving end of it.

Hi aj,

I'm glad you are talking to a therapist about it as mentioned here and in your other thread... I would say these fears of mockery etc are part of what needs to be discussed with them. Stigma really is one of those things we can internalise alongside our personal issues almost out of convenience... Self-critical states of minds have a knack of always being able to find the meanest stick to poke ourselves with!

The good news is that this means that what feels like 100s of problems, is sometimes just one, which it sounds like you are working on.