Is it possible for my man to get diagnosed with herpes if he has not been active for 3 years or did he cheat on me?
My boyfriend and I have been together for 3 years. We haven’t had sex during our relationship because we’re waiting until marriage.
Before we got together, he had previous sexual partners, but he has always told me he was tested and everything was fine. Recently, he developed an ulcer on the lower part of his abdomen that had been there for about a month. His doctor swabbed the ulcer, and the swab came back positive for HSV-2.
I’m trying to understand what this means. Since we’ve never been sexually intimate, I’m wondering if it’s genuinely possible that he caught HSV-2 before we got together and only had his first noticeable outbreak 3 years later.
I’ve read that HSV-2 can stay dormant for years, but I don’t know how common that actually is. Does anyone here have experience with having their first outbreak years after getting infected, or know how likely that is? Also, can a positive swab from an ulcer tell you when the infection was acquired, or does it only confirm that the sore is HSV-2?
I’m looking for honest medical information and personal experiences rather than assumptions about infidelity, because I know the test itself can’t date the infection.