What complications are associated with genital herpes?
Genital herpes can cause recurring bouts of painful genital blisters, and herpes infection can be more severe in people with immune systems depressed due to other causes. Regardless of how severe the symptoms are, genital herpes frequently causes psychological distress in people who know they are infected, due particularly to the attached social stigma. Genital herpes can lead to potentially fatal infections in babies. It is important for women to avoid contracting herpes during pregnancy, because a new infection during late pregnancy poses a greater risk of transmission to the baby than a long-standing infection. If a woman has an active outbreak of genital herpes at delivery, a cesarean section delivery is usually performed. Due to these precautions, and the use of herpes-suppressing drugs, infection of babies by mothers with herpes is uncommon. The herpes virus may play a role in the spread of the HIV virus, which causes AIDS. The herpes virus can make people more susceptible to con
