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Genital HSV-1

3 years ago I contracted Genital HSV-1. I had a long initial outbreak, in which my doctor had me taking Valtrex daily to treat. Since that outbreak I have not had any more occurrences. How likely is it for me to pass it along to my partner? I've been told that it is harder for a girl to pass it along than a guy. Condoms are used in our relationship to help reduce the risk, but will taking Valtrex help prevent my passing it along as well?
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Avatar universal
Ok. That makes me feel a lot better. They did a lesion testing that came back positive for hsv1. My partner and I have discussed it all and he's been amazing about understanding and accepting all of it. He's made the decision to take our chances knowing that it's always possible to spread it, but I obviously wouldn't want anyone else to have to go through the whole ordeal of having herpes.
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101028 tn?1419603004
what testing did you have done though - did they do a lesion culture that came back as hsv1+ or blood testing?

are you sure your current partner was tested for herpes? it's not a part of routine std testing so it's best to cover the bases properly by asking your partner to be sure they were tested for it.

are you likely to transmit hsv1 from the genital area to a partner's genital area? no it is not. hsv1 genitally doesn't shed much at all and the likelihood of transmission to a partner, even if they don't have hsv1 themselves, is still incredibly low. it doesn't shed enough to make taking daily suppressive therapy very worthwhile unless you just need the peace of mind and we honestly don't know if it would decrease transmission of hsv1 genitally to a partner or not but certainly it wouldn't hurt if it's something you and a partner chose to do.  As always, avoid sex anytime you have anything going on genitally to err on the side of caution but odds are your partner is not going to contract hsv1 genitally from you.
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Avatar universal
An outbreak appeared overnight and I scheduled an Emergency appointment the next morning with my Gynecologist. He diagnosed it as Genital HSV-1. My current partner is clean of all STD's.
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101028 tn?1419603004
how were you originally diagnosed as having hsv1 genitally?

has your current partner been tested to know their status?

grace
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Avatar universal
You said that you are taking your valtrex and it sounds like to me that you want to be as safe as possible any you are doing that. Yes it is true that chances of a female transmitting it to a male is very low. It also sounds like you want to have unprotected intercourse but your not sure because you don't want to infect your partner. The best thing to do is talk to your partner about your condition and see how he/she feels about the situation. I'm not sure if you are a male or a female. But keep in mind that while your taking the medication and even if your not having any outbreaks you are constantly shedding the virus.
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