Herpes Won’t Be The End Of Your Love Life
You Can Still Have Love
Some out-of-date doctors tell their patients that they cannot spread Herpes to their partner unless they are having an active outbreak. While it is true that you are the most contagious when you are having active symptoms, it has been shown that Herpes can be spread to a partner even when you have NO visible symptoms.
Most people with herpes “shed” the virus a small percent of the time, even when they are not having an active outbreak. This is called “asymptomatic” or “sub-clinical” shedding. Recent studies have shown that 70% of new cases of herpes were the result of sexual contact with a partner who had no signs or symptoms of herpes at the time.
In many of these cases, the person was not even aware that they had the virus and could spread it. Fortunately, the longer someone has had the virus, their milder and less frequent their outbreaks become, and the rate of asymptomatic shedding also decreases. In fact, some people only very rarely shed the virus. Everyone’s situation is different.
Just because someone has herpes does NOT mean that they are always contagious and will automatically spread it to another partner. There are many things people can do to reduce the risk of transmission and keep their partner safe. There are many couples in which one person has herpes, and the other person does not.
