hsv 1 transmission to person without any type of hsv 1

[curiousquest]

Hi,

I recently had sexual contact with a man that has genital hsv 1. He said that aside from his first exposure and subsequent outbreak, he has never had an outbreak. Because of this information I did not have sex with him, but I did give him oral sex with a condom. I'm not so worried about contracting hsv 1 from this exposure, but he did give me oral sex. Only after the fact, was I worried that he might or could give me hsv 1 on my genitals from his mouth. Is this possible? To my knowledge I have never ever had any cold sores or exposure to hsv 1 orally so I don't think I have any antibodies. So, my questions are:

1) Could I get hsv 1 genitally from oral sex with him?
2) Also, how often do people who contract hsv 1 genitally get it orally at the same time? I would imagine that there is oral and genital contact during the same episode of exposure.

thanks!

[curiousquest]

Thank you so much for all your helpful responses; you have "saved" my weekend.
Take care :)

[gracefromHHP]

Indeed a blood test only tells you what you have, not where you have it but if you can't recall symptoms in either location and only test + for hsv1, odds are it's an oral hsv1 infection.  

if you had contracted hsv1 genitally from this encounter, you most likely would've had obvious symptoms within 2-20 days of the encounter. Hsv1 genitally is more likely to present with very noticeable symptoms than hsv2 is.

no you can't really assume he doesn't have hsv1 orally unfortunately. Unless he got obvious cold sores or oral symptoms at the time of his infection with hsv1 genitally, no easy ( or cheap ) way to determine if it's only genital or not. The information we have shows that anywhere from 1/4 - 2/3's of folks who contract hsv1 genitally also contract it orally at the same time.  Not saying that to add to your list of worries but just to be accurate in my information.  

ironically you are actually less likely to contract herpes from someone who knows that they are infected so giving this partner a big thank you for being honest is probably on your to do list!  Folks who are aware of their infections are more likely to be more cautious than folks who aren't as well as talking about it with potential partners means that both partners are more likely to be cautious and thereby lowers their risk of infection :)    beats someone who assumes no symptoms means no need for any testing any day!

[curiousquest]

Thanks for the quick response, Grace.

I'm calling my gyno on Monday to see about testing, but that actually brings up another point:  I've read that even if you do show hsv 1 antibodies you can't tell if they are oral or genital. So if it does come up positive I will not know whether it was from some oral childhood exposure or this recent activity.

In terms of worrying about other partners, you bring up a very good point; I've never really thought about it. I guess hearing someone has herpes right before being with them intimately makes you think about things you probably wouldn't think about otherwise. I've read that if you have hsv 1 in one part of your body it's very unlikely you'll have it in another.

Can I assume, then, that he does not have oral hsv 1 because he has hsv 1 genitally? If that's the case then I don't think I have anything to really worry about. Right?

Thank you again for volunteering your time in this way!

[gracefromHHP]

most people who have hsv1 orally don't get obvious cold sores to know it. If you've never been tested for herpes before, why not get a type specific herpes igg blood test yourself to know your status for future reference?

it's very low risk of contracting hsv1 either orally or genitally from this partner.  statistically 1 out of every 2-3 people you've ever kissed in a lifetime has had hsv1 orally. do you typically worry about contracting hsv1 genitally from receiving oral sex from your partners?

grace