HSV-1 usually causes oral herpes, and HSV-2 usually causes genital herpes — each strain prefers to live on its favorite area. But it's totally possible for both types of herpes simplex to infect either area. For example, you can get HSV-1 on your genitals if someone with a cold sore on their lips gives you oral sex.
Genital HSV‐1, which almost always causes a true primary infection, is likely to be more severe during the initial episode. However, genital HSV‐1 causes fewer recurrences (few or none after the first year of infection) and is shed asymptomatically infrequently.
Genital herpes is a common sexually transmitted infection caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV). Sexual contact is the primary way that the virus spreads. After the initial infection, the virus lies dormant in your body and can reactivate several times a year.
The average for genital HSV-1 is less than one outbreak per year. Usually, there are more outbreaks during the first year, and many people find that outbreaks become less severe and less frequent with time.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 1 in 6 people living in the United States has genital herpes.
Genital herpes may recur from none to six or more times/year. Recurrent disease tends to be milder than symptomatic first-episode disease, with fewer vesicles, less discomfort and a shortened duration of symptoms.
Here's the good news: People with HSV-1 and HSV-2 don't have to be afraid of sex. Current research suggests that women with genital HSV who aren't having active outbreaks run a 4 percent risk of transmitting the virus to a male partner during intercourse. Men carry a 10 percent risk of transmitting to a female.
The main drugs that doctors will prescribe for this purpose are called antiviral medications. These include acyclovir, famciclovir, valacyclovir, and penciclovir. According to MedlinePlus, acyclovir can reduce first-time or repeated outbreaks that occur when individuals have genital herpes.