Q. Great site! Very informative and honest. I think that this is a
great place for folks to get much needed information and I plan to pass it
along. I have a question about oral herpes. I have heard that you can pass the
infection to yourself, but wonder how this could be so when you already have
the virus and therefore already have antibodies against it. Also, how hard is
it to pass oral herpes to your partners genitals?
May I make one suggestion? As a
certified childbirth educator I would like to see some information about
passing HIV through breastmilk. It has never been shown to do so. Also the use
of AZT during pregnancy and the risk of transmitting HIV to the fetus. I think
it is a problem that needs to be addressed as there is so little accurate
information out there.
A. Thanks for the compliment and the questions. First, regarding transmission via breast
milk, unfortunately, it has been shown to happen. In a study done two years ago by the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), they found that out of 672 HIV
negative infants being breast fed by HIV positive women, 47 (7%) became
positive as a result. They also found
that the risk to the infant is highest during the first few months of
life. Other studies have estimated the
risk to the baby at about 14%, so HIV positive mothers are encouraged to not
breast feed their children if other options are available.
In regards to the use of AZT during pregnancy, if a mother
has a natural childbirth without taking any medications, the risk of
transmission to her baby is about 20%, and the risk increases with a longer
delivery time. While there is a danger
of taking AZT during pregnancy due to its possible toxicity, it drops the
likelihood of transmission during birth from 20% to 8%. If AZT and other antiviral medications are
taken during the pregnancy, during the labor and given to the baby for a period
of time following birth and the baby is delivered by C-section, the risk of
transmission drops to about 2%. So, in
this situation, I think we have to look at it as the lesser of two evils. While there may be complications as a result
of the drugs, those complications are not common; however, having an HIV positive
baby will cause a great deal of complications to the infant. Infants born with HIV progress to AIDS at an
alarmingly faster rate than adults do and may not respond as well to treatment.
Now, the herpes question. I’m not quite sure what you mean by infecting
yourself. To the best of my knowledge,
you cannot re-infect yourself with any disease. Herpes is a virus, and it’s one that your body will not generally
eliminate. Having antibodies to the
virus will not prevent you from getting infected because that means you are
already infected and will be for the rest of your life. I believe it is possible to spread sores to
new locations if you pick at them; however, that’s not a new infection. As for transmission of oral herpes to your
partner’s genitals, it is possible, but not likely. It also depends on what type of herpes you have on your
mouth. Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) is
separated into two types of the virus, HSV-1 and HSV-2. HSV-1 is “oral herpes” where HSV-2 is
“genital herpes” although you may have sores from either virus on your mouth or
genitals. If you have oral
manifestations of HSV-2 and you perform oral sex on your partner, the
likelihood of transmission would be greater.
Genital HSV-1 is also less severe than genital HSV-2. It is advisable to refrain from performing
oral sex on your partner while you have a current herpes outbreak, since that
is when you are most infectious; however, even without a current outbreak,
there is still a chance, albeit slim, that transmission could occur.