Have the lesions around the eye been swab tested positive as HSV 1 specifically?
People with ocular herpes are not necessarily more at risk of encephalitis than anyone else who has HSV 1, no.
I understand your concern about blindness. One option would be to go on suppressive antiviral medication – often, when ocular herpes is diagnosed (and I’m not hearing that form you at this point), suppression is recommended continuously.
Terri