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Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffTwo types of herpes simplex virus infections can cause genital herpes:
- HSV type 1 (HSV-1). This is the type that usually causes cold sores or fever blisters around your mouth, though it can be spread to your genital area during oral sex.
- HSV type 2 (HSV-2). This is the type that commonly causes genital herpes. The virus spreads through sexual contact and skin-to-skin contact. HSV-2 is very common and highly contagious whether or not you have an open sore. However, in many people the infection causes no recognized signs or symptoms and can still be spread to a sexual partner.
Because the virus dies quickly outside of the body, it's nearly impossible to get the infection through contact with toilets, towels or other objects used by an infected person.
References
- Goade D. Genital herpes. In: Cohen J, et al. Infectious Diseases. 2nd ed. New York, N.Y.: Mosby; 2004. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/130330290-4/0/1209/247.html?tocnode=49353813&fromURL=247.html#4-u1.0-B0-323-02407-6..50078-7_2618. Accessed April 7, 2009.
- Gupta R, et al. Genital herpes. Lancet. 2007;370:2127.
- Albrecht MA. Epidemiology, clinical manifestations, and diagnosis of genital herpes simplex virus infection. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed April 7, 2009.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, et al. Sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines, 2006. MMWR Recommendations and Reports. 2006;55:1. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5511a1.htm. Accessed April 8, 2009.
- Xu F, et al. Trends in herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2 seroprevalence in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2006;296:964.
- Wald A. Prevention of genital herpes virus infections. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed April 7, 2009.
- Genital herpes. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp054.cfm. Accessed April 6, 2009.
