Shingles has nothing to do with anything here.  Although herpes simplex virus and shingles are both in the herpes virus family, that's where the similarity ends.  However, it does concern me that you report that she has shingles - like she has had more than one outbreak of shingles?  I wonder if she could be confusing shingles with herpes simplex virus.  Shingles only recurs in about 4% of people who get it once so if she is saying that she is having recurrent shingles, she may well me mixing up shingles with herpes.

it is quite unlikely that once a person has been infected with one strain of HSV 2 that they will pick up another.  We do not encourage couples who both have herpes acquired from others to be worried about new infection.

Terri