Herpes 1 transmission

I was recently diagnosed with Herpes 1, from a swab taken from sores on my vulva. I'm trying to determine source and also have some questions about prevention. So let me give a bit of background first.

When I was most recently tested, it was my first outbreak that was like that (sores on vulva, and in multiple places that were very very itchy and then sore. And I had itching afterward for about a month that was so itchy especially at night that I had a hard time sleeping).

My doctor said I would have gotten from receiving oral sex from my partner. I also had a blood test at the same time as the positive swab/culture, but it didn't show positive. My most recent partner says he doesn't have herpes and my partner before that doesn't think it was from either as he hasn't had any mouth cold sores in a very long time.

I've been blood tested once before about 8 years ago and swabbed for herpes twice about 13 years ago in university. All 3 of those were negative.

The sores i've had before weren't like the kind I had this time. The previous were a small water blister type that appeared just inside the vaginal opening. And they didn't itch or crust over. They would appear after unprotected sex and I started getting those with my first sexual partner in high school. They'd last a couple of days and then would heal. If I used a condom I didn't get them, so I thought they might just be an irritation or allergy to my partner's ejaculate. He was the person I was with when I had the negative swab tests

But then years later when I was my second sexual partner I had another sore. So I realized it couldn't have just been my previous partner. And had a blood test done (the one from 8 years ago that was negative).

So my questions:

- does it sound like the two incidences/types (the most recent itchy/sore around vulva and the internal small water blister type) are the same thing?

- if someone else has had herpes 1 on their mouth before and i have genital herpes (herpes 1) can they get genital herpes from me?

- is the transmission of herpes 1 from genitals to genitals the same risk as herpes 2?

- i don't understand how a condom can actually reduce infection risk when i've read that it can be spread by any contact in the "boxer short area"...how do you deal with reducing infection if you're sleeping/spooning beside each other and not having sex?

- is transmission possible through clothes?

- can herpes 1 on genitals get spread back to mouth on someone who isn't infected?

- can you have both herpes 1 and 2 viruses?

Thank you in advance for your responses!

[gracefromHHP]

From your description of things I don't really think this is a newly acquired hsv1 genital infection to be honest. You have a history of similar symptoms so that just makes you have to think it's not a new infection for you.

Even the best blood tests we have today still miss 1 out of every 10 hsv1 infections.  A negative blood test for hsv1 isn't always the most helpful.

At this point I recommend your current partner gets tested for herpes - both hsv1 and hsv2 with a type specific herpes igg blood test to see what their status is. What really matters is what you have and what they have.  If your partner is hsv1+ then yes it could've come from them but it also might not have. most adults will test + for hsv1 whether they can recall cold sores or not.  There does not have to be an active cold sore present in order to transmit the virus. If your present partner is hsv1+ then just avoiding sex whenever you have obvious genital symptoms is probably all it's going to take to protect them.

Your itching for so long - did you follow up on it? You need tested for other causes of it - bv being the most likely culprit.

grace