Married and recently diagnosed. Can husband be negative?

[jr5]

I was diagnosed with genital HSV-1 9 months ago after experiencing my initial breakout. I have been married for 5 years and with my husband for 2 prior to that. Both of us have been faithful to my knowledge, and I know it's possible to have HSV for years before showing symptoms and I could have contracted it prior to meeting my husband even thought I was only with 2 other people while my husband had been with 24 before me. I just experienced my second outbreak and my husband wants to get tested to see if he has it or not. He wasn't concerned with it when I was diagnosed. Is it possible for me to have this all those years and he not get it from me prior to having symptoms? I'm worried that it will show up as negative and he will accuse me of cheating when that isn't the case for me.

[optimist]

@jr5 Genital HSV1 (or GHSV1) is most often acquired through receiving oral sex from a partner who has HSV1 orally. If he has ever had a cold sore, he almost certainly has oral HSV1, as most adults do. If he hasn't ever had a cold sore, or if he doesn't remember having had a cold sore in his lifetime, it's still possible he has oral HSV1. An IgG test has a 70% chance of detecting HSV1. Unfortunately, it misses 30% of cases. So yes, it is possible he could test negative, even if he has it.

 

And yes, it's possible you could've contracted it from a previous partner, though much more likely you contracted it from your husband, given the timeline you've shared.

 

ETA: As far as I know, number of sex partners is not all that relevant to whether or not someone has been infected orally with HSV1. It is often acquired in childhood with a significant number of children acquiring it between 6 months and 3 years old.

 

 

[Bambina3]

Hsv1 can be acquired way back in childhood, and transmitted genitally thru oral.....you'll never know really how you contracted it, but I bet your husband is positive.

Good luck

[Dave]

You can have it for decades and never know unless you are tested for it. And it's possible after all that time, to have never given it to your partner. Also, no one is a carrier, you either have it or you don't. But just because you have it that doesn't mean you get outbreaks.

 

It really isn't a big deal as most people have little or no symptoms. Think of it this way, the flu virus can be deadly, killing many each year from. HSV hasn't killed anyone, it's just an annoyance.

[HikingGirl]

It's definitely possible. I found out I have HSV1 and HSV2 about a year after my divorce. I told my ex and he tested negative, so I've had it for over 20 years and didn't know it. We were together for 16 years and didn't use condoms, and he never got it. To this day, I'm still blown away by that.