Aa
Risk
Hi,
What is the risk of contracting herpes from a one or two time unprotected encounter for a female, is the risk relatively low?
What is the risk of contracting herpes from a one or two time unprotected encounter for a female, is the risk relatively low?
Best Answer
studies have shown that the risk of transmitting hsv2 to a partner are cut in half if the infected partner is aware of their status. It's the fact that over 90% of folks who have hsv2 have no idea that they have it is the reason why so many folks have it. Know you have it and you can avoid sex during any symptoms in the genital area as well as be sure to use condoms and suppressive therapy to protect a partner. Not knowing you have it means you are likely to have sex when you have itching, redness, pain , discharge etc in the genital area which can be a sign that the virus is actively shedding. have sex when the virus is active and the risk of transmission to a partner goes up dramatically. If we had better herpes testing and more folks got tested routinely, we could dramatically reduce the numbers of newly infected people each year :)
grace
grace
Yes I find it hard to believe that the risk is so low with so many people having the virus. Do you think with the risk being so low that testing is necessary after a one time unprotected encounter?
It seems strange to have such a low risk, especially because a lot of people have it so you'd think that it's spreads really easily. It's a numbers game, really. A lot of people get it in their 30's and if you think about it, by that time the average person has probably had sex hundreds of times or more by then, so eventually they'll have sex with a HSV positve person with the right set of conditions for transmission. Some people are very unfortunate and are infected after only a few sexual encounters but most people go on having sex for years and never get infected. It's definitely a strange virus. It's even more strange for me to think that I've probably had quite a bit of sex with a few HSV positive people (statistically speaking) and remain negative to this day.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Herpes Community
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
grace