How can you prevent the spread of herpes in sexual relationships?

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Herpes viruses are most likely to be transmitted during an outbreak, so it's better to not have sex during this time. Herpes can also be passed on to others in symptom-free phases, though. This risk can be reduced considerably by using condoms.

If you have genital herpes, there are some things you can do on your own to protect your partner from . The main things are

  • not having sex during an outbreak,
  • using condoms, femidoms or dental dams during symptom-free phases, and
  • talking openly with your partner about the disease.

Preventive treatment with antiviral medication may be an option for people who have genital herpes very frequently. This medication inhibits the activity of the , thereby lowering the risk of infecting partners.

How big is the risk of infection?

The likelihood of being infected with genital herpes during sex depends on many factors, including how often you have sex, whether and how frequently you use condoms, and how long your partner has already been infected. Someone who has had the virus for a long time is less contagious than someone who has just been infected. In general, women have a higher risk of becoming infected than men. Having other sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV also increases the risk of transmission.

In studies with heterosexual couples where one partner had genital herpes, the other partner became infected within one year in 5 to 10% of the couples. The people in these studies only rarely used condoms, though – and if they did, it was mostly during an outbreak. One of these studies showed that occurred in an estimated 1 out of 1,000 sexual acts.

Should you get tested?

It’s a good idea for the partners of people with genital herpes to have a blood test for herpes antibodies. This can help them to decide whether to use antiviral medication as protection, for example. Both partners may already have the same type. Then there’s no reason to take medication to protect each other.

If one of the partners has HSV-1 or cold sores and the other one has HSV-2 or genital herpes, they could infect one another with the other . If one partner has herpes viruses in their body and the other doesn’t, condoms are one way to prevent .

How effective is medication at preventing infection?

If you have genital herpes, you will probably be somewhat less likely to infect your partner if you use antiviral medication for prevention. The medications used for this purpose include acyclovir, famciclovir and valacyclovir. They must be taken every day over a long period of time, though. Using them as a creme or ointment is not suitable.

One study showed that over a period of eight months,

  • 4 out of 100 people became infected when the partner with the took a placebo, and
  • 2 out of 100 people became infected when the partner with the took antiviral medication every day.

These couples were also advised to use condoms as well – but many didn't use them consistently. So it’s not clear whether taking antiviral medication can lower the risk of even further if you always use condoms anyway, or whether using condoms is just as effective on its own.

Whether or not you would like to use preventive medication is ultimately an individual decision. Many factors can play a role, such as how long you or your partner have had the , how frequent and severe the outbreaks are, whether you are male or female, the frequency of sexual contact and whether you use condoms.

Corey L, Wald A, Patel R et al. Once-daily valacyclovir to reduce the risk of transmission of genital herpes. N Engl J Med 2004; 350(1): 11-20.

Feltner C, Grodensky C, Ebel C et al. Serological Screening for Genital Herpes: An Evidence Review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. (AHRQ Evidence Syntheses; No. 149). 2016.

Mertz GJ, Benedetti J, Ashley R et al. Risk factors for the sexual transmission of genital herpes. Ann Intern Med 1992; 116(3): 197-202.

Obiero J, Ogongo P, Mwethera PG et al. Topical microbicides for preventing sexually transmitted infections. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2021; (3): CD007961.

Wald A, Langenberg AG, Link K et al. Effect of condoms on reducing the transmission of herpes simplex virus type 2 from men to women. JAMA 2001; 285(24): 3100-3106.

Workowski KA, Bolan GA. Sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines, 2015. MMWR Recomm Rep 2015; 64(RR-03): 1-137.

IQWiG health information is written with the aim of helping people understand the advantages and disadvantages of the main treatment options and health care services.

Because IQWiG is a German institute, some of the information provided here is specific to the German health care system. The suitability of any of the described options in an individual case can be determined by talking to a doctor. informedhealth.org can provide support for talks with doctors and other medical professionals, but cannot replace them. We do not offer individual consultations.

Our information is based on the results of good-quality studies. It is written by a team of health care professionals, scientists and editors, and reviewed by external experts. You can find a detailed description of how our health information is produced and updated in our methods.

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Updated on March 23, 2022

Next planned update: 2025

Publisher:

Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG, Germany)

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