Pregnant and Herpes 1 blood test came back positive?

Question

I'm a little confused and very concerned. Today, at my OB visit he told me that the test came back positive and asked if I'd had any cold sores. I told him no because I don't think I've ever had one. He told me to contact him if I got any. Although my husband gets them once in a blue moon. I know that 90% of people have the herpes 1 virus around their mouth. Last I knew though they were nothing to worry about, unless they are on your genitals. Neither of us have ever had sores on our genitals. I wasn;t worried at the time becasue like I said, most people do have simplex 1. My question is should I worry about my baby? What is going to happen to her being that it is active in my blood and she is in my womb? I didn't think anything but now I don't know. Why would the doctor bring it up if it wasn't anything to be concerned about.

Answer 1

Why did you not ask your doctor these questions when he told you of your positive test.....?  

Answer 2

If you are HSV-1 (without a history of cold sores) or HSV-2 seropositive, then you should be counseled, offered management options, and examined for carefully lesions at delivery. Some clinians have used valaciclovir 500 mg twice a day or acyclovir 400 mg three times a day from thirty-five weeks to delivery. All women should be examined carefully at delivery for lesions and, if lesions are present, a Cesarean delivery considered. Otherwise your baby will not aquire it while in utero and if lesions are not present at time of labor then you can have a normal vaginal delivery.

You can have type 1 genitally or orally, so I dont think that 90% of people have it. Closer to 20% (which is on par with all stds). A "cold sore" is just a cute euphemism so you don't have to actually acknowledge that its herpes. HSV-1 is usually mild, especially when it infects the lips, face, or genitals. However, in some cases type 1 can recur spontaneously in the eye, causing ocular herpes, a potentially serious infection which can lead to blindness. In very rare cases HSV- 1 can spread spontaneously to the brain, causing herpes encephalitis, a dangerous infection that can lead to death. HSV-1 is also the usual cause of herpes whitlow, an infection on the finger, and "wrestler's herpes," (herpes gladiatorum) a herpes infection on the chest or face.

Answer 3

The only real danger to the baby is if you're having an active outbreak of genital herpes as your baby passes through the birth canal. Since your herpes is unlikely to be genital (even though you could have asymptomatic outbreaks and not know it), your baby should be just fine if he/she is born in between outbreaks. Also, if you contracted the infection before getting pregnant, your baby is less likely to become infected due to your antibodies being passed on to your baby in utero. However, should your baby become infected, it can have very serious lifelong consequences and even be fatal, so find out as much as you can about your infection, where on your body the outbreaks occur, get tested regularly for herpes on your private parts to see if there's any shedding you don't notice, and if so, keep an eye out for a possible outbreak when it's time to give birth and consider having a c-section instead.