But as more people are talking openly about it, she added, "it can be more normalized."Honesty rules Honesty, trust and communication are key components in a relationship — and having an STI doesn't change that, Ruggera said.Telling a partner about health concerns that can affect him or her is always an imperative, experts said. Marie Claire: How has having a STI affected your dating life? One in every six people between the ages of 14-49 have it, and the majority don't even know (! To help us demystify the experience, we spoke with herpes-positive blogger Ella Dawson, 23, to tell us about what really happens when you date with the STI.

My first outbreak was a terrible experience, and I do not want to cause anyone else to go through that, but I’m also not sure if I’m being overly cautious. – 60-80% of the general population already have HSV-1 orally.

If someone already has HSV-1 in their mouth, could sex with me cause them to have a genital outbreak?

Although I’ve never had a cold sore, could I pass the HSV-1 to someone by kissing them? If they give me oral sex, will they get oral HSV-1? HSV-1 can be passed to another via either genital or oral sex, just like HSV-2.

I contracted genital herpes, got tested and found out it was from the HSV-1 virus. I’ve read a lot about how HSV-1 can be passed from oral to genital contact, but not a lot about how likely it is to be passed genital to genital.

Now that I have HSV-1 genital herpes, do I have to take the same precautions as someone with HSV-2?