Yes, genital to genital transmission of HSV 1 is uncommon and outbreaks are generally infrequent.
And yes, though we have no specific research, we know that the antiviral medicines work well with HSV 1 as well as HSV 2. I don’t have a percentage I can give you, however. If I had to make an educated guess, it would reduce viral shedding similarly to the way to reduces viral shedding with HSV 2. It reduces transmission of HSV 2 by almost 50%.
Terri