Can herpes simplex 1 be passed on to become genital herpes?

In a word...yes. Here's some information but you should see your doctor for an expert opinion, advice, and/or treatment.

Herpes is contracted through direct skin contact (not necessarily in the genital area) with an infected person. The virus travels through tiny breaks in the skin or through moist areas, but symptoms may not appear for up to a month or more after infection. Transmission was thought to be most common during an active outbreak, however in the early 1980s scientists and doctors realized that the virus can be shed from the skin in the absence of symptoms. It is estimated that between 50 and 80% of new HSV-2 cases are from asymptomatic viral shedding.

HSV asymptomatic shedding is believed to occur on 2.9% of days while on antiviral therapy, versus 10.8% of days without. Shedding is known to be more frequent within the first 12 months of acquiring HSV-2. There are some indications that some individuals may have much lower patterns of shedding, but evidence supporting this is not fully supported. Sex should always be avoided in the presence of symptomic lesions.

Women are more susceptible to acquiring genital HSV-2 than men. On an annual basis, without the use of antivirals or condoms, the transmission risk from infected male to female is approximately 8-10%. This is believed to be due to the increased exposure of mucosal tissue to potential infection sites. Transmission risk from infected female to male is approximately 4-5% annually. Supressive antiviral therapy reduces these risks by 50%. Antivirals also help prevent the development of symptomatic HSV in infection scenarios by about 50%, meaning the infected partner will be seropositive but symptom free. Condom use also reduces the transmission risk by 50%. Condom use is much more effective at preventing male to female transmission than vice-versa. (Wald et al., 2001) The effects of combining antiviral and condom use is roughly additive, thus resulting in approximately a 75% combined reduction in annual transmission risk. It is important to note that these figures reflect experiences with subjects having frequently recurring genital herpes (>6 recurrences per year), subjects with low recurrence rates and those with no clinical manifestations were excluded from these studies.

Follow the link for more information. Graphic photos!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herpes

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