Thanks for taking the time to review my questions. I'm wondering about herpes transmission and my specific questions are as follows:

1) If someone gets cold sores, could you get herpes from them if they spit onto your face or even into your mouth and eyes while talking to them?

2) If herpes can be contracted by being spit on, would it affect the possibility of transmission if the person had HSV 1 or 2?

3) And if transmission is possible from someone spitting onto your face during conversation, would it still be possible to contract herpes if the person had oral herpes but did not have a cold sore at the specific time when they spit onto your face?

Thanks for answering my questions! With so much random and often incorrect info on the internet, I cannot tell you how nice it is to be able to ask an expert!!!

What about stuff like drinks and silverware? Although I can't remember where I read it, I read somewhere online that one of the herpes viruses (I think it was the one more commonly associated with oral herpes) can live longer outside the body than the other. So with that virus, becoming infected by doing something like using the same fork as someone infected or sharing a drink or doing something similar where there is not direct skin-to-skin contact. Are these types of encounters actual risks for contracting the virus from someone who has oral herpes but doesn't have a cold sore at the time? If this sort of contact is a risk, does it affect the risk level if it is HSV 1 or 2?

Also, years and years ago, someone told me that their brother had touched what he thought was a canker sore and then touched his eye. Apparently though it wasn't a canker sore. I honestly can't remember if the person told me it was a herpes sore, but the virus somehow caused an infection in the brother's brain and he ended up dying. I am sorry if this seems like a lot of speculation and also one of those freakish situations that even if possible are extremely unlikely. However, I've always wondered if something like this happening with a cold sore, or any sore caused by the herpes virus, is realistic. If you touched a herpes sore and then touched your eye, could it end up causing some kind of brain infection? Or, could the virus cause some kind of eye problems?

Thank you very much for all the information!

Can you contract herpes from sharing a hot tub with someone who has herpes or is having an outbreak? I read online that this is possible, although I can't remember if the scenario outlined specified if the person with herpes was having a current outbreak or not.

Should you get tested for herpes even if you never had an outbreak? I've been tested for other STIs but the testing didn't include herpes. I'm on the fence about getting tested because I've never had an outbreak and if I tested positive, I wouldn't even know what to do with the information.

Does a herpes outbreak ever resemble a pimple or other skin blemish? I always thought that herpes presented as an open sore but I've read online that this is not always the case. If herpes can resemble a pimple or other skin blemish, how can you tell the difference?