If it isn’t latex sensitivity, then I’m not sure what it could be honestly. First of all, herpes prodrome doesn’t last for two months straight – a couple of days is usual, I think even a week is outside the norm.
We don’t have good statistics about the rate of transmission specifically for people that have been infected for a long time and who have infrequent recurrences. We believe those people still shed virus but for most, it is less frequent for sure.
So the antiviral therapy would be for your benefit, not for his, which I think you already know. It would only be a benefit for him in the sense that his concern about infecting you would be decreased but I’m not getting the sense from what you have said that he is very concerned about that, given his belief that he has not infected anyone and the long time since infection and since last outbreak. Those things are all good but not necessarily indicative of the actual situation. For example, no one he was with might have experienced an outbreak but 80% of those infected with HSV 2 don’t know it, so history usefulness is limited. And just because someone is not having outbreaks does not mean they are not shedding virus. So yes, his news is good but it doesn’t mean you are home free, which I think you also know!
Overall, without taking into consideration his time since first infection and frequency of recurrences, the rate of transmission from an infected male to an uninfected female per year, having sex twice per week on average, about 10 women out of 100 will get infected in a year. With antiviral therapy, that drops to 5 and with condoms, between 2-3 women will get infected, just statistically.
You’ve got one more question in your subscription – please feel free to ask me anything.
Terri