Genital herpes is a common sexually transmitted infection (STI). The herpes simplex virus (HSV) causes genital herpes. Genital herpes can often be spread by skin-to-skin contact during sexual activity. Show Some people infected with the virus may have very mild symptoms or no symptoms. They can still able to spread the virus. Other people have pain, itching and sores around the genitals, anus or mouth. There is no cure for genital herpes. Symptoms often show up again after the first outbreak. Medicine can ease symptoms. It also lowers the risk of infecting others. Condoms can help prevent the spread of a genital herpes infection. Products & Services
Symptoms Close Genital herpesGenital herpesSores associated with genital herpes can be small bumps, blisters or open sores. Scabs eventually form and the sores heal, but they tend to recur. Most people infected with HSV don't know they have it. They may have no symptoms or have very mild symptoms. Symptoms start about 2 to 12 days after exposure to the virus. They may include:
During the first outbreak, you may commonly have flu-like symptoms such as:
Differences in symptom locationSores appear where the infection enters the body. You can spread the infection by touching a sore and then rubbing or scratching another area of your body. That includes your fingers or eyes. Sore can develop on or in the:
Repeat outbreaksAfter the first outbreak of genital herpes, symptoms often appear again. These are called recurrent outbreaks or recurrent episodes. How often recurrent outbreaks happen varies widely. You'll usually have the most outbreaks the first year after infection. They may appear less often over time. Your symptoms during recurrent outbreaks usually don't last as long and aren't as severe as the first. You may have warning signs a few hours or days before a new outbreak starts. These are called prodromal symptoms. They include:
When to see a doctorIf you suspect you have genital herpes, or any other STI, see your health care provider. Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic There is a problem with information submitted for this request. Review/update the information highlighted below and resubmit the form. Sign up for free, and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips and current health topics, like COVID-19, plus expertise on managing health. Email ErrorEmail field is required ErrorInclude a valid email address Learn more about Mayo Clinic’s use of data.To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail. It is definitely possible that you have genital herpes and that your partner does not. Only your partner knows for sure if he is telling the truth, but here are some scenarios in which he could be correct about not having herpes when you do. One possibility is that you have had herpes for a long time and were just recently diagnosed. Many people with genital herpes are unaware that they are infected and find out when they get a positive blood test for herpes, or when they develop symptoms of an outbreak. It can be very hard to accurately determine when you contracted a herpes infection. The only way to prove that your current outbreak is new is to have a swab test of the genital lesions turn out positive right now, and a blood test for the same type of herpes be negative right now. If a second blood test a few months later turns out positive it would confirm that this is a new infection, since blood tests take a few months after a first herpes outbreak to turn positive. If your herpes blood test is positive at the time of your first outbreak, this tells us that you have had that type of herpes for at least a couple of months, but we cannot be any more specific about when you first got the infection. It is also possible that your partner does have herpes and had a false negative test. Herpes blood tests can be negative even though someone is actually infected. This is most common in the first few weeks after infection, before the body has produced antibodies to the virus – the blood test is looking for these antibodies, so the blood test can be negative during the first few weeks after someone has been infected with herpes. Additionally, herpes does not transmit 100% of the time. It’s possible to have a long-term partner who has herpes and to never get the infection. If your partner does not have herpes, there are some things for you both to know to move forward. If you have herpes, it is not a guarantee that you will give the infection to your partner. One study showed that transmission between couples is about 10% per year, and about 70% of these transmissions happened when the infected partner had no symptoms (https://annals.org/aim/article-abstract/705283/risk-factors-sexual-transmission-genital-herpes?volume=116&issue=3&page=197). Condom use can reduce (but not eliminate) the risk of transmission. One study showed that using condoms most of the time reduces transmission from an infected man to an uninfected woman (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/193953) – though this study only looked at monogamous heterosexual couples. Another study analyzed multiple other studies and found that people who use condoms every time they have sex have a much lower risk of contracting HSV from an infected partner (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2860381/). Daily medication (using either acyclovir or valacyclovir) can reduce the risk of you spreading the infection to a partner. One study of people with genital HSV-2 who took a daily antiviral medication showed that people taking medication were both less likely to shed virus, and less likely to transmit the virus to their partners (https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMoa035144?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3Dwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). In addition, people who both took daily medication and used condoms for intercourse had no cases of herpes transmission in this study. With herpes, as with any STI, a diagnosis shouldn't be about the blame game. What it should be about is good communication between you and your partner(s), education about the disease and the best way to stay healthy, and limiting transmission to others in the future. Herpes is incredibly common, but very manageable. How long can you carry herpes without knowing?Many people with the herpes virus do not experience any symptoms when first infected. If symptoms do occur they usually take between 2 and 12 days after contact to appear. Sometimes symptoms may not be noticed until months, or sometimes years, after being in contact with the virus.
How long does it take for herpes to show up on a blood test?Talk with your healthcare provider. In addition to recommending specific tests, they can also help guide when you should get tested. When someone gets genital herpes, it can take up to 16 weeks or more after an exposure for the current tests to detect it.
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