I was recently diagnosed with genital HSV 1, the strain that usually causes cold sores. I recently got into a new relationship and haven't told him about this yet.
Do I need to tell him?
I understand that recurrences are infrequent with this strain of genital herpes, I have had 1 outbreak in 6 months and I was extremely rundown when this occurred which I'm guessing is why it happened. The doctor's told me I can only pass it on to my partner when I have symptoms (I've asked 3 different doctors about this now), so on that basis, I may never have another recurrence meaning he is not at risk. However, I have read online about asymptomatic shedding. I've gathered that with this strain, this occurs only in 1/4 of people, if it occurs at all, it is only between 1-3% of the time. So the risk is very very low, if we use condoms it is even lower. Would I be unnecessarily worrying him? I also understand that shedding decreases with time, even halves after the first year, so in six months time the risk will be even lower.
Secondly, when we have sex do we always need to use a condom? Or is the risk low enough for us to be able to occasionally not?
Advice please.