Herpes and shingles

I have just recently had a lesion develop near my vagina.  The nurse practioner advised me it looked like it might be a very minor outbreak of herpes and took a viral culture.  The test has come back negative, however I'm not sure this is conclusive as it does feel like it may be herpes.

I'm 53 and have never had any symptoms of herpes I or II.  I've been in the same relationship now for over three years.  My partner had come down with a case of shingles about a month earlier and we had sex during that period, though being careful to wait until his sores (on his stomach and back) had lessened.

If it turns out I do have herpes, could I have contracted it from my partner when he had the shingles?  The nurse thought it might be a possibility.

thanks for any clarification you can offer!

[gracefromHHP]

Shingles is a reactivation of the herpes zoster virus.  If you had chicken pox as a child then you weren't at any risk from your partners shingles.

Shingles is very unlikely to present as a single lesion in the genital area.

At this point why don't both you and your partner get type specific herpes igg blood tests to see what your statuses are?  To be honest in your age group it's over 30% of adults has hsv2 and about 60+% have hsv1.  It's quite common.

grace