You tell people who have HPV that its not necessary to forever inform future partners long after their warts/symptoms go away. So that means I dont need to inform future partners about my herpes, right?
A. Wrong. Human papillomavirus (HPV) usually goes away after several months; although the virus may persist, it generally does so in amounts that cannot be transmitted to sex partners. Herpes is different; the virus persists for life and is transmissible to partners (on and off) for many years. Whether infectivity lasts for a whole lifetime, however, isnt known. Therefore, anybody who has reason to believe s/he may have genital herpes has an ethical obligation to inform current and future sex partners before having sex, even if s/he isnt having an outbreak at the time, intends to use a condom, or is taking antiviral therapy.
Related Questions
- You tell people who have HPV that its not necessary to forever inform future partners long after their warts/symptoms go away. So that means I dont need to inform future partners about my herpes, right?
- Many people already have HPV in their throat, with no symptoms - not right combination of genes?
- Can HPV cause other kinds of warts?
