-Is it safe for the infected partner to kiss lips, nipples, and the overall body of the uninfected partner if no cold sore is present?
Its clear you’ve given this all quite a bit of thought and I think that’s refreshing. As you likely know, 56% of the US population between 14 and 49 are infected with HSV 1. And as people age, the percentages increase. That means that the chances you would encounter, either sexually or through kissing, there is 50% chance that the other person has it. Likely most of that infection is oral but more often, genital.
-Is it safe to have unprotected intercourse/genital to genital contact
If a person only has HSV 1 orally, then they can only transmit it from the facial area. It is not infectious through the genital area.
-Is it safe for the uninfected partner to perform oral sex and kiss and touch the body of the infected partner?
Same anser. If someone has HSV 1 orally only, then another person can give them oral sex without risk of infection. Same goes for touching all over.
-Is it safe for both parties to masturbate each other/touch each other’s genitals?
Absolutely. If there is a worried person, you can avoid saliva in favor of other kinds of lubricants.
– Is oral sex performed by the infected person on the person uninfected out of the question regardless of whether there is a sore present, since the virus can shed with no symptoms, therefore putting the uninfected partner at risk for HSV-1 genital?
I think the best way to answer that is to say that a person can give off virus from their mouth even when there are no cold sores present. In that sense yes, if someone with HSV 1 gives oral sex to someone who does not have HSV 1, there is a small risk of transmission. There is no perfect solution to that small risk. Probably if the infected person took daily antiviral therapy, the risk would be reduced greatly.
– Touching in general is a question for me because some resources say that if the infected person touches their cold sore and then touches your body, it could transfer the virus. (Or what if they touched their own body and then you touched them?) Or they could autoinoculate themselves, etc. This seems to me to be a bit (or a lot) over the top, so I would prefer to verify it with a professional.
Autoinoculation almost always occurs, when it does, which is not often, within days or weeks of acquiring a first infection. After that, autoinoculation is extremely unusual because the immune system has mounted a substantial immune response that keeps that from happening. I encourage my patients to take that one off the worry plate.