 What is genital herpes?
What are the symptoms?
How can a doctor help me?
Is there a cure?
How common is it?
How is the virus passed on?
How will having herpes affect my life?
Can I go on having sex?
What is genital herpes?
Genital herpes is a common viral infection caused by one of the two types of herpes simplex virus: HSV-1 or HSV-2.
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What are the symptoms?
Most people infected with the virus have no symptoms at all. Those who do get symptoms may have anything from a single mild rash to regular outbreaks of very painful blisters. All most genital herpes symptoms have in common is that they are in or near the genital area, and that they keep reappearing.
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How can a doctor help me?
A doctor can confirm that you have herpes, prescribe simple and effective treatment, help you make the right decisions about managing the virus, and arrange counselling if you feel it would be helpful.
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Is there a cure?
No, but antiviral treatment can help prevent symptoms reoccurring.
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How common is it?
Very common. About 1 in 8 Australians are carrying the virus that causes genital herpes.
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How is the virus passed on?
By sexual contact when the virus is active, which can mean when there are symptoms or during viral shedding (when the body is expelling virus without symptoms).
Because facial herpes (cold sores) is caused by the same virus as genital herpes, having oral sex can cause infection.
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How will having herpes affect my life?
When you think how common genital herpes is, it's obvious that having the virus makes very little difference to the majority of people who have it.
Even if you are unlucky enough to have severe symptoms that would come back quite often if they were left untreated, there are plenty of positive steps you can take to control them.
The other good news is that having genital herpes shouldn't stop you having a healthy sex life and forming strong, fulfilling relationships.
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Can I go on having sex?
Of course you can, although you probably shouldn't (and won't want to) have sex when you have herpes symptoms. Just remember to treat other people as you would want to be treated: be honest with them, and take care to protect them.
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