herpes transmission statistic

[frank855]

Men vs. Women’s Contagiousness
Because of the nature of male and female genitalia, it is easier for herpes to be transmitted to a woman by a man than vice-versa. This is because female genitals have more exposed soft tissue. This also accounts for why 1 out of 4 American women have herpes, whereas 1 out of 5 American men does.

Herpes Transmission Rates
The likelihood of passing genital herpes to a partner is highest during an outbreak (times when a sore is present).
When a person is not experiencing an outbreak, there is a 4-10% chance of transmitting it. (Depending on gender)
According to studies done by Valtrex, these are the rates of transmission per year of regular sex:

If partners avoid sex during outbreaks: 4% chance transmission from female to male; 8% male to female
If partners also use condoms or antiviral medication: 2% female to male; 4% per year male to female
If partners also use condoms and antiviral medications: 1% female to male; 2% male to female
These herpes transmission rates should be encouraging for couples who wish to have a healthy sex life without passing the virus from one partner to the uninfected partner. When staying informed and weighing the risks and precautions, genital herpes does not have to be a barrier to intimacy. I’ve known couples who despite being together for years, the one partner who came to the relationship with genital herpes never even passed it to their partner.



http://justherpes.com/dating/herpes-transmission-rates-how-not-to-give-partner-herpes/

[Wastedfilm]

Bump

[Life360_Dave]

Thank you Howard, that was a great exposee. And am really glad that your part of the team here.
dave

[HowardH]

I agree this is good information. However, two points of clarification about the transmission rates. First, they apply only to HSV2. Transmission rates for HSV1 are lower. (Genital to genital HSV1 transmission is uncommon, for the reason given by Life360.)

Second, the figures of 4%, 8%, 2%, and 1% for HSV2 transmission are not for each sexual exposure. Those are roughly the rates over a year of unprotected vaginal sex 2-3 times a week, when the infected partner is having no symptoms of an outbreak.

These risks work out to an average transmission risk of 1 chance in 500 to 1 in a thousand for each sexual exposure. This is why single exposures, even to partners known to have HSV2, usually don't result in genital herpes.

[Life360_Dave]

Thank you for posting this . Also most  infections take place when no symptoms are present and this is a leading reason why. Shedding of genital hsv2 herpes takes place 15-30% of the time so its quite often as compared with hsv1 genital which is 3-5% of the time.