Transmission of genital herpes simplex 1?

Alright so I have genital herpes simplex 1 after my ex gave me oral when he had a cold sore. I actually never saw a sore on his mouth and I didnt contract the herpes orally either. I was wondering why I didnt get it on my mouth? And I have heard the genital herpes simplex 1 is harder to transmit to someone else than it is to spread herpes 2. True? I hope this makes sense. Thanks.

HSV-1 prefers to infect the mouth, while HSV-2 prefers to infect the genitals. Both are easy to catch in their preferred areas, somewhat less easy (but still easy) to catch in the opposite location. So it is harder to transmit HSV-1 from mouth to genitals, since it prefers the mouth area. Also, if you have HSV-1 on your genitals, the outbreaks are supposedly less severe and less frequent than if you have it in your mouth. The reverse is true for HSV-2 on the genitals.

It is possible that you didn't catch HSV-1 on your mouth from your ex because you are already infected with HSV-1 on your mouth. 80% of the US population is already infected with oral herpes by the time they reach adulthood.

The best source of information that I know of for difficult herpes questions is the American Social Health Association (ASHA). They have an excellent web site that answers most questions. They also have a toll-free hotline (in the US) with knowledgable people who can answer your questions. The number is on the web site.

Great question!

I also got hsv-1 on the genitals rather than the mouth, even though my boyfriend kissed me on the same night. Hsv needs minute fissures in the skin to enter - with the abrasion and a woman's anatomy, the genitals are more vulnerable than the mouth. I consider myself lucky - some people catch it on the mouth and genitals at the same time, if they kiss and practice oral/intercourse on the same occasion.

Yes, genital hsv-1 is much harder to transmit to someone else than hsv-2.

For a start, it is only infectious about 3% of the time, rather than the 15-16% of the time that genital hsv-2 is infectious for, or even the 18% of the time oral hsv-1 is infectious for. In other words, your genital hsv-1 makes you only a tiny fraction as infectious as someone who gets cold sores is.

The other factor with genital hsv-1 is whether your partner has oral hsv-1 - cold sores. 80% of the population has oral hsv-1 by adulthood, even if they have no memory of ever having a cold sore.

If your partner has a history of hsv-1 orally, they are extremely unlikely to catch it from you genitally - having the virus in one location protects you from getting it in another. So 8 out of 10 people won't catch it from you anyway.

The only risk is if they have only had cold sores for a few months - after 3-6 months their body will produce antibodies that should protect them from catching it from you.

This protection that occurs once you have had the virus a while is why we don't all have genital hsv-1 despite the fact that 8 out of 10 people have oral hsv-1 and most of these people will be performing unprotected oral sex.

It is still best to avoid having intercourse during an outbreak, although I have accidentally had sex with my boyfriend while having an outbreak without him catching it, just as I have kissed him while he has an actice cold sore without catching his cold sores on my mouth. We don't worry about it, since we both have hsv-1, even if we have it in different locaitons. We don't use protection.

This is the advice of the UK Herpes Viruses Association:

"If you and your partner have the same virus you will not reinfect each other - even on a different part of the body. So, if you have caught it genitally from your partner鈥檚 facial cold sores, he or she will not catch the virus back on the genitals."

http://www.herpes.org.uk