That is partly because a person who has oral herpes caused by HSV-1 can spread it to their partner’s genitals during oral sex. However, an increasing number of genital herpes cases are being caused by HSV-1, not HSV-2.
HSV-2 most often affects the genital area. Both viruses are transmitted by close contact with an infected person. HSV-1, or oral herpes, is usually associated with cold sores or fever blisters around the mouth, and it is often transmitted through nonsexual contact with infected saliva. There are two types of herpes viruses: herpes simplex 1 ( HSV-1) and herpes simplex 2 (HSV-2). Herpes is caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV). More American women than men have herpes, possibly because the disease is somewhat easier to pass from men to women than from women to men, notes the CDC. It’s so prevalent in the United States that about 12 percent of people ages 14 to 49 have it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Genital herpes is a common and incurable sexually transmitted disease (STD).
