Taking Care of Yourself and Your Partner During an Outbreak

[getSTDtested Administrator]

Having genital herpes does not mean the end of your sex life, but during an outbreak, the sores are highly infectious and the virus can be passed on to others by direct contact. To prevent this from happening, there are certain things you should avoid including:

-kissing when you or your partner have cold sores around the mouth.
-having oral sex when you or your partner have oral or genital sores.
-having any genital or anal contact, even with a condom or dental dam, when you or your partner has genital sores.
-using saliva to wet contact lenses if you have sores around your mouth.
*always wash your hands with soap before and after touching the sores.

Remember, although the likelihood of transmitting genital herpes to your partner between outbreaks is much reduced, there is still some risk. A condom will only protect against herpes infection if it covers all the sores. Herpes can also be transmitted by non-penetrative sex.