Resources for patients and others interested in herpesviruses

In 2007, the AHMF conducted an online survey to determine how many people were at risk of having herpes. The results are about to be presented to a wide international audience.

The AHMF has just launched a new Patient Perspective Survey to research the opinions of Australians with genital herpes. The survey asks about patients' experiences with herpes treatments—what they know about them, what they've tried, and how well...

A new two-day course of famciclovir (available in Australia as Famvir) has been licensed for treating outbreaks of genital herpes. The new course consists of a single 500mg dose, followed by three doses of 250mg.

36 per cent of survey participants found to be at high risk of contracting the virus.

Genital herpes is a tricky condition. Some people have recurring symptoms, others don't even know that they have it. You can't always tell when you're infectious, and it might be years between picking up the virus and developing an outbreak. We break it all down for you in our set of ten things...

How do you feel about treatments for herpes? Do you use them? Over-the-counter or prescription medications? For preventing outbreaks or for treating them once they've started? How much benefit do you get from treatments?

This page is a list of myths about herpes. Many people with genital herpes believe at least one of these statements... but they are not true! This is the place to clear up any misconceptions you might have...

People with genital herpes or cold sores can pass these conditions on to their sexual partners. It’s possible to decrease the risk of passing it on, but unfortunately it’s not as straightforward to prevent transmission as it is for other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) like...

Herpes is passed on from person to person when the virus is shed from the skin of the first person and comes into contact with the skin of the second. This is what happens when a person first contracts cold sores or genital herpes. It’s sometimes possible for a person to transit the virus...

If a pregnant woman has herpes—sometimes when she doesn’t even know it—there’s a risk of passing it on to the baby. When babies contract herpes at birth, the results can be very severe. Fortunately neonatal herpes is rare. We explain how it's transmitted and what pregnant...

Health professionals have different ways of figuring out whether a person has herpes. There’s no single best way of proving that a person has herpes—every case is different and the health professional needs to use their experience to decide the best way in any given case.

There are effective treatments for genital herpes. They can be used to:

• Reduce the length and severity of herpes outbreaks
• Prevent outbreaks of herpes from occurring
• Minimise the risk of transmitting herpes to partners.

In Australia, these treatments...

It’s common for one person in a couple to have genital herpes, and the other to have no symptoms. Some of the questions that come up in this situation are:

• How can the couple reduce the chance of passing the herpes virus from one partner to another?
• Does the person...

National Herpes Awareness Day was established by the Australian Herpes Management Forum in 2004 and is run each year on October 13^th to raise awareness of herpesviruses within the Australian community, to provide facts, to break down myths and to encourage people to visit their doctor...