If you have a herpes outbreak on your thigh, can you still pass the disease to your partner during regular intercourse? Does your partner have to come in contact with the exact area you have the break out or anywhere in the general area?
Yes, you can pass on the disease during an outbreak if there is any contact with the thigh area. If there is no outbreak there is still a chance of it being passed on because of asymptomatic shedding. If the person is asymptomatically shedding then you will not know when the person is contagious. The best way to reduce the shedding (by A LOT) is to do suppressive therapy, then the probability of it being transmitted (without an outbreak) is 1-3%. As a rule of thumb you should consider the boxer short area a place that can be contagious especially while having an outbreak. Good Luck!