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Risk for genital hsv1 transmission?

Last night I was making out with my boyfriend, both naked, and before we had penetrative sex with a condom on, his bare penis touched and slid on my vagina for quite a few times. Is there any risk here for transmitting genital hsv1 to him? I am a bit worried since I was just recently diagnosed a month ago so there may be more asymptomatic shedding, and would like some professional view on this.
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207091 tn?1337709493
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In theory, it's possible. In reality, it takes friction and time for herpes to transmit. Touches and slides aren't likely  going to do much for transmitting.

Most experts say that ghsv1 isn't likely to ever transmit without symptoms. Terri Warren hasn't ever seen a new ghsv1 infection in someone who hasn't received oral sex in the past few weeks.

Does he know you have it? If you are newly diagnosed, is he your source? If he has it already, you can't give it to him. He has antibodies that will protect him from getting it again.
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He is aware of my hsv status and he is not my source partner, i guess it was a brief and careless action for both of us in that moment. Now that I recall there wasn’t exactly sliding but only his bare penis pressed against my vagina for maybe 5-10 seconds. Is there still a risk in that case? Besides this incident, does it mean that genital rubbing also carry the risk for hsv transmission?
Really, it's a theoretical risk. In reality, it isn't for a few seconds.

Heavy rubbing or grinding could be a risk for transmitting herpes, but remember that transmitting ghsv1 is really really unlikely. It's easy to transmit oral hsv1 to the genitals - which is probably how you got it - but it's not at all easy to transmit ghsv1 to someone else's genitals (or mouth, for that matter - herpes rarely goes from the genitals to the mouth).

Has he tested for hsv1? He can take a type specific hsv1 blood test and find out if he has it already. If he does, you can stop worrying.  

He is going to get tested soon since he has never done one before. But if like you said it was only a theoretical risk, and it takes time and friction to transmit in real life, so does that mean there isn’t any real risk and I should have nothing to worry about? Sorry for the question but i suffer from anxiety issue so any uncertainty bothers me very much.
If that helps, I now remember more clearly that he was actually pressing his penis tip against my vagina for several times because he was trying to have unprotected sex (we were both drunk so we didn’t know what we were doing which I know was a mistake), but I stopped him every time and finally managed to have protected sex afterwards. Is that a risk here then?
I wouldn't worry about this. There isn't any real risk.

And if he is aware of your status, and is doing this, he doesn't care. He's a grown man, or at least old enough to be having sex, so he's old enough to be making decisions regarding his own body. I understand anxiety, but try to remember that he's able to make his own decisions about his own body, and you can let him do that. :)
Thank you so much for your reassurance. The reason I asked is because I got ghsv1 the first time having sex with the source partner going down on me for no more than 30 seconds while the rest of the time using his saliva as lubricant to finger me. The guy wasn’t having a cold sore at the time and has not had one in 20 years. If time and hand-genital contact is not a risk then what are the odds that it happened to me like this… I just worry a lot. Suppose I was shedding more frequently and more seriously in the first month, is it possible that the pressure of his penis on my vagina is a kind of friction? Can the virus enter his body more easily through the tip of his penis into his urethra? By the way, we also did mutual masturbation so he had rubbed his penis with his hand that might have some little amount of my vaginal secretion.
I understand this is new to you, and you are anxious. But really, I've answered this.

You got hsv1 genitally from the guy giving you oral. Herpes is transmitted by direct skin to skin contact - that's it. It's not by hands, saliva as lube, etc.

Even if he didn't have a cold sore for 20 years, he still sheds the virus.

You do shed more in a new infection, but with ghsv1, it's still not a lot. Friction is not pressure - it's rubbing skin against skin. Think of sandpaper against wood - that's friction.

Mutual masturbation doesn't transmit herpes, either. It's just genital to genital contact, not hand to genital.

Your partner needs to test. And if it makes you feel better, maybe go on antivirals, like Valtrex, suppressively, to help reduce transmission. Ask your doctor.

Again thank you so much for your detailed answer. It is more difficult for me to wrap my mind around the incident considering I got infected in so rare a circumstance. Could you also answer my last question -  can the HSV virus enter his body more easily through the tip of his penis into his urethra like other STDs, if no, meaning there is no real risk at all during that 5-10 seconds? And does that mean I got infected just from that brief 30 seconds of oral sex (I am sure it was that encounter for reasons that may need too much elaboration here) despite the fact that it needs certain duration of time to transmit? Thank you.
I can't tell you exactly how you were infected. It seems like it was the 30 seconds of oral sex - which is, as you say, very unusual.

How were you diagnosed? Did you have symptoms? Was it a blood test or a swab? Had you ever been tested prior to this encounter?

The virus enters skin, not the urethra. That's why it can still be transmitted while wearing a condom - not all the skin is covered when using condoms.
I had terrible blisters on my genital area, swollen lymph nodes, and fever a week after the encounter and the doctor took a swab on my vagina, result came back positive for HSV1. To be honest it is very hard for me to take in the fact.
I understand that as a professional knowledgeable of STDs you cannot give me a definite answer, but given that I acquired the virus this unusual way, do you still agree with your original statement that there is no real risk involved with the new encounter? Thank you.
Okay, thank you for telling me that. I hear from a lot of people who get a blood test and assume it's genital with no symptoms.

Yes, I still agree with my original statement. It's far easier to get genital hsv1 from receiving oral sex from someone with oral hsv1 than it is to transmit ghsv1 to someone else's genitals.

There is something called site preference with herpes. Hsv1 prefers the mouth, and hsv2 prefers the genitals. When they are in the opposite location, they act differently - they shed less and recur less frequently, making it less likely to transmit.

It does sound like you were infected by the person you think you were, unless you had other partners during that time. Even if you did, that's almost certainly the time frame in which you were infected. Did you have any other partners within the 2 week period prior that gave you oral sex? If you did, any of them could be your source.

I know it's hard to take in that you have herpes now, but the chances that you'll ever transmit it are up there with being struck by lightning and winning the lottery on the same day if you just avoid sex with symptoms since you have ghsv1.

Since you have a newer infection, and are concerned about shedding, maybe take Valtrex suppressively for a bit to help ease your mind.

Thank you so much for your detailed explanation, it really helped ease my mind a lot. And I was only meeting that one partner during that time, hence the certainty. Please allow me one final question - since ghsv1 is not in its preferred location, does that mean transmission is more difficult to happen even when the virus is shedding asymptotically as compared to ghsv2?
Well, since this is a new infection for you, you are shedding about 13.7% of days a year. If you were going to maintain that rate, that's about 50 days a year.

By 11-12 months, it's dropped to 7.1%, which would be about 25 days a year.

At 2 years, it drops to 1.3%, which is about 4 days.

Even when shedding is present, it seems that it is more difficult to transmit ghsv1. Terri Warren, a world renowned expert in herpes, has stated on numerous occasions that she has never seen ghsv1 transmitted genital to genital, only in people who've had oral sex within the previous 2 weeks. She's been doing this for 35 years.

Here's a thread on her site that may help - https://westoverheights.com/forum/question/hsv1-8/

There are no 100% absolutes. Could it happen? Yes. Will it happen? Highly unlikely - unlikely enough for you to stop worrying. :)
Okay, thank you very much for all your replies and explanations, you have been the most helpful. I hope you have a wonderful day :)
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