Peer Reviewed
Sexual health

Management and prevention of recurrent genital herpes infection

Nathan Ryder, Basil Donovan
Abstract

Genital herpes is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in Australia and a diagnosis of the condition can cause significant emotional distress. Affected patients require both pharmacological and psychological treatment.

Key Points

    About 12% of adults in Australia are infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), making it one of the most common sexually transmissible infections in Australia. However, 75% of adults in Australia harbour type 1 (HSV-1) infection: an unknown proportion of these adults with HSV-1 infection have acquired it sexually and all could potentially sexually transmit the infection to others, particularly through oral sex. It is therefore likely that more than 85% of marriages in Australia include at least one person who harbours the potentially sexually transmissible herpes virus, resulting in genital herpes being common even in ‘low-risk’ populations.

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