How long can hsv1 stay dormant?

I’m 30 years old married for 5 years and together for 6.5 years I just had an initial Genital jab outbreak last week. My swans came back positive but the blood work came back negative. I understand this means that it is a new infection toon firms. I’m very secure in my marriage and have never strayed and I trust my hubby with my life that he hasn’t either but where the heck did this come from? Is it possible my hubby is an asymptomatic carrier? Why has it taken over 6 years for me to get it? Any insight would be appreciated.

Does your husband have cold sores? maybe he transferred it to you through oral sex. I have also read that the virus can lay dormant for many years so maybe your husband had it and was just a carrier for a long time without symptoms. Has your husband been tested? I would make sure you follow up with more blood test in 4 weeks.

Good Luck

No he doesn’t get cold sores. The doctor said that I don’t need more blood work bc the swabs were positive should I ask for blood work in a few weeks? I really appreciate your time. This is all new to me.

A positive swab is a reliable confirmation, and it sounds like your initial negative blood test showed this was a new infection. While the majority of adults have oral HSV1, only about s third ever have a cold sore, so tons of people have it, they don’t know they have it, and still fewer realize they can transmit HSV1 from the mouth to the genitals.

Lots of factors affect transmission, so it’s not unusual that transmission simply didn’t happen until now.

It is totally possible that your husband wasn't aware, and transmission is really complicated.

Personally, I suggest that you don't dwell on how or why, but instead look toward the future. It's really great that you have a secure marriage. As a person who who also contracted in a relationship, I recommend open, honest communication (especially about the tough stuff), and focusing on keeping it a good relationship. It's probably normal to have really negative thoughts and suspicion in that situation, it's better to talk about it than to let it fester. Then, move forward.

My girlfriend had it and didn't know, which is pretty common unfortunately. When I contracted, I was really mad and really torn. But we talked about it, and she understood that there is plenty of legitimacy to the the feelings I felt. She was honest with me, and helped settle conflicting thoughts and emotions I had. It ended up making our relationship stronger.