61 Y/o Female Married 37 Years. I Had Flu Symtoms

Posted on Tue, 4 Dec 2018

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 4 Dec 2018 Answered on

Last reviewed on

Question : 61 y/o female married 37 years. I had flu symtoms for a few days then burning when urinating. Went to gyn and she said herpes. My husband and I have an active sexy life. We both had other partners before we met....but that was 1980. Can herpes be dormant almost 40 years? I've had two children...no other health issues. Husband never had herpes. Must we now only have protective sex? If I've had it all these years, have I given it to him?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Rakhi Tayal (13 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Herpes can be dormant for years.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
I have gone through your query and understand your health concerns.
Herpes can remain dormant for many years and most of the times it is transmitted when you have active lesions. If your husband is infected or not can be detected with the help of a blood test. It is best to have a protected sex for now and wait for all the active symptoms to disappear completely before having an unprotected sex.
I hope this answers your query.
In case you have additional questions or doubts, you can forward them to me, and I shall be glad to help you out.
For future query, you can directly approach me through my profile URL http://bit.ly/Dr-Rakhi-Tayal
Wishing you good health.
Regards.
Dr. Rakhi Tayal

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Kampana