Preventative Measures Against Herpes

According to the Centers for Disease Control, herpes is a common sexually transmitted disease, affecting about one out of five adults and adolescents. However, just because herpes is common doesn't mean that you don't care if you get it--or if you have it, that you don't mind if you pass it on to other people. Using simple, preventive strategies can drastically reduce your chances of getting this unpleasant, uncomfortable disease.

What's The Ultimate Protection?

• Genital infections can be caused by the herpes simplex viruses type 1 (HSV-1) or type 2 (HSV-2), although in most cases, it's caused by the latter through direct skin-to-skin contact--unprotected sexual intercourse. However, that's not the only way you can acquire genital herpes; according to Mayo Clinic experts, genital outbreaks caused by HSV-1 are on the rise due to the popularity of oral sex, accounting for around 10 percent of all cases. Genital infections can be a hazard if you let someone with obvious oral lesions get "up close and personal."

  The ultimate preventative measure against herpes, according to the CDC, is abstinence from all sexual activity. For most people, refraining from having sex isn't an option. What can and will protect you from herpes is to stay in a long-term, sexually exclusive relationship with a partner who isn't infected with HSV.

  You might dread asking a new sexual partner to be tested for HSV and other sexually-transmitted diseases, but this is one instance where your knowledge of your partner's health status can protect you against herpes. According to the CDC, around 90 percent of people with herpes aren't even aware that they're infected. And according to other health experts, 70 percent of cases of herpes occurred when the infected partner showed no signs or symptoms of an outbreak. If there are no active lesions, confirming the presence or absence of HSV can be done through blood testing. If you haven't had yourself tested for HSV, this is an optimal time for both you and your new partner to show each other that you're committed to a monogamous, safe, healthy relationship.

Other Preventive Strategies

• So your new partner has herpes. Now what? Remember, this disease can be passed on to you, the uninfected partner, in absence of any active sores. In fact, most people acquire herpes when the virus is shed asymptomatically, passing from tiny breaks in an infected person's skin and into tender mucous membranes.

  According to the CDC, your risk of getting herpes decreases considerably with consistent and proper use of latex condoms, although this is no guarantee that you won't get herpes from your partner, as condoms only cover a certain part of the genitals. If your partner has an active outbreak, the safest thing to do is wait until the lesions have fully healed before you have sex again.

  An additional preventive measure against herpes is use of prescription oral antiviral medications, which may go by the names of Zovirax, Famvir and Valtrex. These medications work by reducing the rate at which the herpes virus replicates, thus decreasing the frequency, duration and severity of herpes outbreaks. The Mayo Clinic recommends that all people with genital herpes who have an uninfected sexual partner (or who have multiple partners) take antiviral medications daily.

If You Suspect Herpes

• Unfortunately, there is currently no cure for herpes. Once you're infected with the virus, it lodges itself in your ganglia and lays dormant until something causes it to activate, Some people experience numerous outbreaks; in others, they happen very rarely. But if your partner tells you that his herpes has been cured by a consumer product you've never heard of, be it a vitamin supplement, herbal remedy or topical application, don't believe it. According to the Mayo Clinic, there's nothing that can be purchased over the counter (or even under it) that will cure herpes. Prescription antiviral medications, along with condom use, are the best way to decrease the chances of an uninfected partner getting herpes.

  If you suspect that you've been exposed to the herpes virus despite your best efforts at protecting yourself, don't delay: seek your doctor's help in getting an accurate diagnosis, as well as a treatment plan that's appropriate for you.