Question:
My significant other recently found out that he has HSV1. He is having the first outbreak that he has identified as an outbreak (before, he thought he was completely asymptomatic because the sores he got weren't really huge and blistery). He was off hunting all week so I didn't know that he was having one until I talked to him when he got back to town last night. Here's what worries me....he was having what he is sure is an outbreak, yet he touched it regularly to see how it was doing, put lip stuff on it (with his finger), etc.....WITHOUT washing his hands AT ALL! He says, how was I going to wash my hands when I was out camping??? At the least, I would think he either wouldn't touch it at all, or use sanitizer or something. But...what's done is done so now we're trying to figure out the risks and what to watch for.

How common is herpes whitlow really?

Is it possible to get infected on your hands, not have symptoms, and then still pass it to others?

What symptoms should we look for (blisters, obviously, but what would less subtle symptoms look like)?

What about spreading it to other areas (like when he went to the restroom during this week of touching his cold sore adn not washing his hands)? He said the only time they really washed their hands was before they ate dinner each night.

How likely that he has infected another body part? Will we even know or could he still spread it without symptoms (I am concerned about this for myself, but mainly for my kids)?

thanks so much for your help!

Answer:
Whitlow is known mostly for being spread during contact sports where there is both frequent injury and contact.

The best example is wrestling. Your hands are a little raw and you contact someone's lip. If there is an open wound and an active coldsore this could be a problem but in reality it is not as easily transmitted to other body parts as you might assume.

If you have had hsv for a while and you have antibodies and you do happen to transfer the virus to another location your antibodies are going to kick in ASAP.