Although herpes isn't curable, it's important to know that it can be controlled with medications. Daily suppressive therapy (that is, talk to a healthcare provider about your concerns and treatment options). There is no cure for genital herpes. However, daily use of antiviral medications can prevent or shorten outbreaks.
Antiviral medicines can also reduce your chance of infecting it to others. HSV causes herpes and can affect the mouth or genitals. There is currently no cure for the virus, but there are treatments that can reduce the symptoms and infectiousness of the disease. There is no cure for herpes simplex.
The good news is that sores usually go away without treatment. Many people choose to treat herpes simplex because treatment can ease symptoms and shorten an outbreak. Once you have the virus, it's a lifelong infection. If you have blisters in your genital area, your doctor may request a test to determine if you have genital herpes.
Pregnant women who have been diagnosed with HSV-2 (commonly known as genital herpes) should start taking a daily antiviral at 36 weeks of pregnancy as prescribed, to avoid outbreaks during childbirth. If you are starting a new relationship and you know that you have a herpes simplex infection, you should let your partner tell you before having sex. A large study showed that if one partner has herpes and the other is not infected, treating the infected partner with suppressive therapy can prevent the transmission of symptomatic herpes in more than 90% of cases. Herpes simplex may be more dangerous for young babies because they don't have a fully developed immune system.
If you have an active infection at the time of delivery, you can transmit the herpes virus to your baby. Neonatal herpes is when a pregnant person transmits the infection to the fetus before, during, or immediately after delivery. A person with herpes who is transmitting the virus can be contagious even if they have no lesions or symptoms, which is why the patient population with genital herpes caused by HSV I is believed to be increasing. If you are infected with HSV-1, commonly known as oral herpes, you may feel tingling or burning around your mouth in the days before a cold sore appears.
The natural history of varicella zoster infection is similar to genital herpes infection, since VZV is also latent in sensory nerve roots. Medications have come a long way in helping to suppress herpes and it is possible that it can be cured in the future. Taking antiviral medications can help you reduce the risk of transmitting genital herpes to your sexual partners. People who have open sores due to genital herpes are twice as likely to get HIV compared to people without herpes.
However, there is currently no vaccine that can help prevent the spread of herpes, so a person should use appropriate protection and precautions when having sex with other people. Herpes can hide in nerve cells for a long time before becoming active, making it difficult to find a cure.
