This runs counter to the belief that people with herpes could safely have unprotected sex when they had no symptoms. Up until recently, patients and even most doctors thought people with herpes could safely have unprotected sex when they had no symptoms, which can include painful, oozing blisters, ulcers and fissures and tingling and burning. In a study disproving some myths about the incurable, widespread virus, University of Washington researchers found the virus present in genital secretions even when patients didn't notice any symptoms. The study was reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine . A Quarter of Americans Infected Genital herpes, usually caused by the herpes simplex virus type 2, lurks in about one-fourth of U.S. adults, although only an estimated 20 percent of them know it.
Herpes is spread through sexual contact when it enters the body through tiny passages in the skin.
The virus lies dormant in nerves at the base of the spinal cord until something triggers an outbreak. Flare-ups generally last for a few days. There is no cure, but drugs can reduce the severity and frequency of flare-ups. While herpes isn't fatal, the sores can make it easier to become infected with the AIDS virus. Without precautions, herpes can be transmitted during childbirth, infecting the baby and sometimes causing brain damage or death.