Can you get hsv1 by smoking after someone with it?

Answer 1

It would depend on whether or not you actually consumed some of their saliva via the smoking device or cigarette. But even so, according to Spruance, people with recurrent oral HSV-1 shed virus in their saliva only about 5% of the time, even when they show no symptoms. The inescapable fact is that HSV-1 is usually spread through contact with infected lips. If that person was actually experiencing an outbreak, and the lesion touched the same area that you placed your mouth on, the odds of transmission certainly increase, but are still very small unless you directly contacted their infection.

Still, on a practical level, oral HSV-1 is often the most easily acquired type of herpes infection. Usually the first herpes simplex virus that people encounter, oral HSV-1, is typically spread simply by the kind of social kiss that a relative would give a child. Nevertheless, transmission in this case still involves a level of contact above sharing a smoke.

Keep in mind that by the time they're teenagers or young adults, about 50% of Americans have HSV-1 antibodies in their blood. By the time they are over age 50, some 80-90% of Americans have HSV-1 antibodies.

But I'd say you have next to nothing to worry about.

Answer 2

No, it will not transfer from smoking.