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Jackie O horrified by 'STI' bombshell live on-air
Jackie ‘O’ Henderson was served some cold hard truths about her cold sores when a doctor dropped some STI bombshells live on her KIIS FM radio program on Tuesday morning.
Jackie and her Kyle & Jackie O Show co-host, Kyle Sandilands, were discussing cold sores with resident medical expert, Dr KIIS, aka Dr Sam Hay, when things turned personal.
“I have cold sores but I don't have herpes,” the 45-year-old stated, prompting Dr Hay to jump in and swiftly set her straight.
“No you do,” he countered, adding, “It’s the same virus.”
“It just depends where it infects you, either on the face or down below,” explained Dr Hay, who is also the medical supervisor for SAS Australia.
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The Masked Singer judge however wasn’t convinced and argued that she wasn’t “going to be passing on any kind of genital herpes.”
Again, Dr Hay contradicted her, explaining that the herpes virus can be transmitted via oral sex.
A shocked Jackie stated that she would ‘never do that’ if she had a cold sore at the time.
“I haven't had one for ages, but if I did get one, there's no way I would do that,” she said.
Cold sores and herpes
According to the Victorian Government’s Better Health website, cold sores and genital herpes are both caused by the herpes simplex virus, HSV.
There are two forms of HSV: HSV1 which appears as cold sores or blisters around the mouth, nose and chin and HSV2 which occurs mainly in and around the genital area.
Cold sores are extremely common and most people are infected in childhood or young adulthood. The infection lasts for life but not everyone with HSV1 will experience cold sores, are which generally triggered by a cold or illness hence the name.
As Dr Hay pointed out, cold sores on the mouth can cause genital infection during oral sex for those who do not already have the cold sore virus.
HSV2 is also extremely common — about one in eight people have it — but about 80 per cent of those infected may be unaware. There’s no cure for genital herpes but can be managed by medication. Cold sores usually require no treatment and go away on their own.
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