How likelly am I to contract herpes?

[msedlav]

I have been dating a woman for over a year who has has a recurring herpes lesion that occurs in the area of her upper buttocks.  That is the only place where it is occurs.  She has tested positive for HSV-2.  Before whe was diagnosed, I had unprotected vaginal sex with her during a time when the lesion (which she and I thought at the time was a pimple) was present.  After her diagnosis, she began to take Valtrex but still has recurring outbreaks of the lesion. I have continued to have unprotected sex with her when no sign of the lesion is evident.  I have never had any symtons or lesions myself and have been tested twice for herpes since beginning the relationship: once about a month after first having had sex with her, the second time about a year later.  Both times the tests (IgG and IgM) came back negative.    

So my questions are these:  is it possible that the herpes is localized to the area where she gets the outbreaks?  Do I still run a risk of contracting herpes if having unprotected sex with her, including oral sex?    

Thanks in advance fro your help, because I have posed these questions to an urologist and a GP and never really received a clear answer from either one.

[waringblender]

N.B.: Sorry, forgot to add that if she is already using the Valtrex 500 daily, she has cut her shedding days by about 50%, so the above shedding figure wouldn't necessarily apply. :o)

[waringblender]

She can be shedding the virus in the entire vaginal area when she doesn't have lesions and not just where the lesion is located.  However, shedding doesn't occur 24/7. It occurs about 15-20% of  days and you won't know when it happens; neither will she. It's asymptomatic.

What dosage of Valtrex does she use? Does she take it daily, or only when lesions recur?

The statistics on the risks to you should be reassuring: your risk over the course of a year is about 5%. You cut that risk in half if she uses Valtrex daily,  or if you two decide to use condoms. If she is already using the Valtrex daily, you are getting a protective effect from that, so your risk is down around 2% PER YEAR. That's not with each episode of sex, it's during your sexual relationship over a year. If you throw both of these methods into the mix, your risk, as you can imagine, is extremely low.

Oral sex is not really something to be concerned about. You should be refraining from oral sex with her any time she has an active lesion anywhere, even if it's not vaginal, because the shedding occurs at the same time as the lesion. But if she doesn't have active lesions, oral sex is very low risk for you to contract it.