What Increases Your Risk

Factors that increase your risk of getting genital herpes include:

• Having multiple sex partners.
• Having a high-risk partner or partners (partner has multiple sex partners or HSV-infected sex partners).
• Having unprotected sexual contact (not using condoms).
• Starting sexual activity before age 18.
• Having an impaired immune system.
• Being a woman. Women are more likely than men to become infected when exposed to HSV and tend to have more severe and longer-lasting symptoms. Women also are at a greater risk of having complications from a genital herpes infection.

Infection with HSV, especially if you have open sores, also increases your risk for becoming infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) if you are exposed to HIV.

Things that may raise your risk for recurrent genital herpes outbreaks include:

• Emotional stress.
• Fatigue.
• Other infections, such as a cold or the flu.
• Physical injury, such as irritation, of the genital area.
• Any condition that impairs your immune system.

Any child with genital herpes needs to be evaluated by a doctor to find out the cause and to assess for possible sexual abuse. For more information, see the topic Child Abuse and Neglect.