Topic: Sexual HealthHerpes transmission
The risk of transmission is reduced but not eliminated; they must take the medication correctly and
consistently. The patients still have the ethical responsibility to inform prospective partners that
they have genital herpes; and that they still should use condoms, be alert to both overt and subtle
symptoms of recurrent herpes, and avoid sex when symptomatic.
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We Can Reduce Herpes Transmission
Subset analyses to flesh out the results will be challenged by the modest number of transmission events
that occurred, but preliminary data suggest a trend toward lesser efficacy with even modestly reduced
therapeutic compliance. Among several issues that will require observational studies and real-world
experience are efficacy in nonmonogamous persons and those who do not simultaneously receive repeated
counseling about other prevention strategies; efficacy in same-sex couples; therapeutic compliance when
asymptomatic HSV-2-infected persons receive treatment for the altruistic motive of protecting partners,
with no immediate personal benefit; and the extent to which some infected persons might be less cautious
about using condoms and avoiding sex when symptomatic, perhaps blunting the benefits of chemotherapy.
Concerns about therapeutic compliance also imply that acyclovir or famciclovir should be used with
caution, if at all, to prevent
transmission. Both require twice-daily therapy to suppress symptomatic
recurrences of genital herpes, so that long-term compliance may be more difficult.
Medication: There is no cure for genital herpes, and no drug has been proven to prevent the spread of herpes to others.
Use the next to suppress herpes outbreaks or to treat them when they occur.
- Acyclovir is an antiviral agent that is active against the herpes virus infections of the genitals, skin, brain, and mucous membranes. The drug is also used to treat other viral infections such as shingles and chickenpox.
- Valtrex is the once-a-day prescription medication proven to suppress future genital herpes outbreaks. Valtrex works by disrupting the process by which the herpes virus reproduces itself and spreads to other cells in the body.
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