It's good to know that for both types, HSV1 and HSV2, at least two-thirds of infected people have no symptoms, or symptoms too mild to notice. It spreads even when no symptoms are present. So, maybe you have gotten this from your boyfriend. My point was that this is very a contagious disease and by the time of teenagers age or young adults age, about 50% of Americans have HSV-1 antibodies in their blood.


HSV-1 can be spread easily to the genital area, usually through oral sex (even when you don't have cold sores, because of virus shedding). After first year of appearance, the recurrences are more frequent. The people who have a lot of recurrences also have a lot of shedding.