veryworriedguy

Came across a study (from Glaxo/Valtrex) about the transmission of genital herpes from an infected partner to an uninfected partner. The study involved 1484 couples with one infected partner (HSV-2) and one uninfected partner over an 8 month period. Also, keep in mind that 2/3rds of the "uninfected partners" were males. The findings:

PLACEBO GROUP:

- 16 out of 741 (2.2%) participants contracted Genital Herpes and actually showed symptoms

- 27 out of 741 (3.6%) of participants contracted Genital Herpes but did NOT show any symptoms

- Overall rate of transmission for placebo group (symptotic or assymptotic) was 5.8%.


VALTREX (DAILY) Group:

- 4 out of 743 (0.5%) of participants whose partner took Valtrex suppressively contracted Genital herpes and showed symptoms

- 16 out of 743 (2.2%) of participants whose partner took Valtrex contracted Genital herpes but DID NOT show any symptoms of the virus

- Overall rate of transmission for Valtrex daily group was 2.7%.


CONDOM USE:

- 55% of participants said they NEVER used condoms, 13% SOMETIMES used condoms, and 30% ALMOST ALWAYS used condoms

- Condoms were found to significantly reduce the risk of transmission

- No one who used BOTH Valtrex AND condoms at least SOMETIMES or ALWAYS contracted herpes along with the symptoms (this doesn't exclude them from contracting herpes but not showing the symptoms)


VIRAL SHEDDING:

- Placebo group shed the virus on 7.8% of their days over 8 months

- Valtrex group shed the virus on 2.8% of their days over 8 months

- Of the placebo group, 82% shed the virus on at least 1 or more days

- Of Valtrex group, 49% shed the virus on at least 1 or more days (however, the amount of virus shed was 60% lower for this group)

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Keep in mind that all of these couples were counseled on safe sex practices with a partner who has herpes (for instance no sex during an OB). Also, the majority of the "uninfected partners" were men (2/3rds) and it was found that the risk of transmission is greater for women than it is for men. Based on the results, the bottom line is that the risk of spreading genital herpes to a partner is about 6% over an 8 month period. If you throw in Valtrex suppressively, your risk of spreading it is about 3%. If you use Valtrex AND condoms, the risk is even lower. Also not that these numbers are slightly skewed due to the majority of uninfected being men, so the risk is slightly higher for infected male + uninfected female partner...and lower for infected female + uninfected male partner.

Anyway, I hope this helps quantify things a little bit for everyone. On one hand it made me feel unlucky to have contracted this virus (I unknowingly had sex with an infected partner just once AND used a condom and still got it). On the other hand, at least you have an idea of what kind of risk is involved.

P.S. On another note, if you throw in the HERPES vaccine for women which *should* be out within a few years by Glaxo, your risk of spreading the disease to your female partner at all goes down by 40%. Meanwhile, the risk of spreading the disease to your female partner AND having her develop herpes symptoms decreases by 75%. So I figure with the vaccine, plus valtrex daily, plus condom use...the risk of infecting a female partner is practically nil. This thought at least gives me some hope for the future. Cheers.