Gold Coast Health is recognised for quality patient care, nursing and midwifery excellence and innovations in professional nursing and midwifery practice under the Magnet® Recognition Program.
"Walking together in kindness" artwork produced for Gold Coast Health by Riki Salam, We are 27 Creative.Genital herpes is a sexually transmissible infection (STI), also known as herpes simplex virus, HSV. There are two types of herpes that can affect the genitals: HSV-1 and HSV-2. Herpes may also affect the mouth, lips, anus and rectum.
The symptoms of genital herpes can vary widely.
Symptoms may include genital:
Other symptoms may include:
Some people may experience recurrent symptoms.
Herpes is best diagnosed by swabs collected by your doctor/nurse. Blood tests are not recommended as they are not a reliable method of diagnosing herpes.
Herpes is transmitted from skin-to-skin contact with someone who has the infection. Herpes can be transmitted by people who do not know they are infected or people who do not have symptoms. This is known as asymptomatic viral shedding.
Antiviral medications may reduce the severity and duration of symptoms. People who experience frequent recurrences should consider talking to their General Practitioner about suppressive therapy. Suppressive therapy also reduces risk of passing herpes on to your sexual partners. While treatment can greatly control and help symptoms, it does not cure the virus.
If your partners have symptoms they should be assessed by a doctor or nurse. There is no need for testing or treatment if they do not experience any symptoms.
Herpes can be passed on to babies during childbirth, causing a serious infection. A pregnant person who experiences recurrent symptoms may be recommended by their doctor to commence suppressive therapy in the final weeks of pregnancy. This will greatly lower risk of recurrences and subsequent caesarean delivery. Partners who have recurrent herpes may also consider suppressive therapy throughout their partner’s pregnancy.
