If you have already sorted out with your partner that you are going to continue living together even after getting diagnosed with herpes, you are already halfway there with resuming a normal, happy life. However, let’s just make it clear that if you are going to have a sexual contact with your partner, the chances of transferring the disease are still there and won’t be fully eliminated even after using antivirals or taking necessary precautions. However, the risks of transmission can be reduced by as much as  40 percent just by using latex condoms. Also, we would like to make it clear that we are talking about HSV 2 type (genital herpes) in this case. Check out these tips on how to protect your partner and reduce the risk of getting herpes:

1. Avoid sex during the “high risk” phase

During an active episode of Herpes, abstinence from sexual intercourse is the only right way to avoid the transmission of Herpes. So avoiding contact in the first few days of contracting the virus could largely reduce the chances of transmitting the virus. It’s possible for couples to have successful relationships even for years without transferring Herpes to their partners, so you just have to avoid sexual contact when the symptoms are present, like itching, burning and tingling in the affected area.

2. Use Latex condoms

Condoms provide useful protection against Herpes by covering and protecting the mucous membranes which could be the likely sites of infection. However, the protection isn’t always guaranteed because Herpes isn’t just localized to the area covered by a condom.

3. Use an antiviral drug to reduce viral shedding

There are a few prescriptions drugs like Valtrex and also medicinal herbs that are clinically proven to reduce the viral shedding. So it’s important that you talk to your doctor about their use to minimize the chances of transmitting the virus to your non-infected partner. Use of medicinal herbs by your non-infected counterpart could help them build immunity against HSV which also is a viable approach that could reduce down the transmission even further.

4. Limit the number of partners

By having sex with a non-infected partner who is mutually monogamous could largely reduce the chances of transmitting the diseases to other people. But this doesn’t in any way imply that you have to stick with the same partner for the rest of your life. This just means that being faithful to a single partner is a responsible choice.

For now, there is no HSV vaccination available, but there are different vaccines that are in clinical trials or pre-development phase, so till then, let’s just focus on the silver lining for now, i.e. reducing the chances of transmission by taking necessary aforementioned precautions.

You can also follow the discussions on the latest trials that are being conducted to keep yourself posted about when the treatment will finally be available.