STD question

[sugarshaker]

I've just found out that DP has genital herpes. I don't. What are the chances of transmission? How do we have a normal sexual relationship?

Most people will say you are fine as long as there in no actual touching during an outbreak. Personally I wouldn’t continue the relationship as if always be on edge for the hint of a start of an outbreak.

Please don't worry about this. First, it's really common, almost everyone has herpes antibodies. Second, most people who catch it have no symptoms at all. These 2 together mean that, unless you've had no previous sexual contact at all, you've probably been in contact with the virus and won't catch it from him or if you do you won't have symptoms (the same as the majority of us). Thirdly, in general its a mild infection and it gets less severe with time - the chance of it causing any problems, including in pregnancy is tiny.

Lastly, nowdays its much more common for genital herpes to be caused by the exact virus which causes cold sores. Would you be at all worried about snogging someone who'd previously had cold sores?

Man, thats a bit of an essay, sorry about that
I work in sexual health and I get a bit carried away with myself sometimes.
In a nutshell, if he's lovely don't let the herps get in the way

HSV 2 isn’t that common- sure a person can have it and have no outbreaks for a long time, but it’s not as common as HSV 1 which is on the mouth- cold sores.
It depends which one he has because HSV 1 can also go on genitals from oral sex. HSV 2 is a bit more severe.

Thanks everyone. It's definitely HSV2 (genital herpes), and I definitely don't have it. Obviously, I'd rather not catch it, but continuing the relationship puts me at risk of catching it. I guess I probably need to get some more information.