• Avoid sex or any sexual contact with the affected area during an outbreak. Stop having sex when you first feel warning symptoms (tingling, burning, itching in the area where you usually get sores, and possibly muscle aches), and wait until the sores have completely disappeared before you resume.
• Use a condom at all times to protect the uninfected partner.The virus may be contagious even when you do not have symptoms. Click for details on the correct way to use a condom.

See Also - Living with genital herpes
     Using a condom correctly

Spreading the virus is one of the biggest worries that people have when they are first diagnosed with genital herpes. For couples in monogamous long-term relationships where one person has the virus and the other does not, the risk of transmitting genital herpes is around 10 per cent over a one-year period.

During an outbreak
The risk of spreading the disease is high during an outbreak. While you are having an outbreak, your partner should avoid any contact with the affected area - including oral, genital and anal sex.

• Starting from the time you first notice the early warning signs of an outbreak (tingling, burning or itching where the sores usually appear).
• While blisters or sores are present.
• Until the sores have completely healed.

When sores or blisters are present, herpes can spread even without penetration. The virus can be passed to your partner even if he or she only rubs against a sore or blister.

Oral sex can spread the genital herpes virus to your partner's mouth or face.

Having oral sex while either partner has a cold sore on their face can also spread the disease. Cold sores are also caused by the herpes virus and contact can cause genital herpes.

When sores are not present
You can pass on the genital herpes virus to a sexual partner at any time - even when you have no sores or symptoms. Safer sex reduces the likelihood of spreading the disease. The virus can still be shed from the skin and transmitted to your partner when symptoms are absent. This is called 'asymptomatic shedding'.

The risk of passing on the genital herpes virus is particularly high during the first year after you become infected with the virus. People who have frequent outbreaks are also more likely to pass on the virus.

Safer sex reduces the chance that the virus will be transmitted to your partner.

The risk of transmission is high just before and immediately after an outbreak. Sometimes the virus is still present in the genital area even though there are no sores or warning signs. This is called 'asymptomatic shedding'. Genital herpes is most often passed on to partners during such a period.

Watch out for signs that you are about to have an outbreak, such as muscle aches and itching, tingling or burning in the genital area. This is a time when you are particularly at risk of transmitting the virus to your partner.

Precautions during sex
Because it is impossible to tell for sure whether the virus is present at any one time, it is advisable to use condoms whenever you have sex. However, even this sensible precaution cannot guarantee 100 per cent protection from transmitting the virus. The virus may still be passed on through oral sex, or because the condom does not cover the area where the virus is present.

Click for information on using a condom correctly to help avoid transmission of the virus.

See Also - Living with genital herpes
     Using a condom correctly

If you do not want to use condoms because you are trying to become pregnant, ask your doctor for advice.

When you are pregnant
Genital herpes does not affect your ability to have children, but the possibility of passing herpes on to your baby is understandably a worry. A talk with your doctor should put your mind at ease. Look at Herpes and pregnancy for more information.

See Also - Genital herpes: the facts
     Herpes and pregnancy