Genital herpes

Does suppressive therapy actually protect a partner?

My clinic offered daily antivirals and mentioned it lowers the chance of passing it on. I want to understand how much lower, because my partner and I are trying to make an informed decision rather than just be reassured.

spare_key 4 weeks ago

NoteMember experience, not medical advice. Symptoms overlap between infections and only a test can tell them apart.

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slow_thaw 4 weeks ago

It genuinely reduces transmission, and it is not complete. The figure that gets quoted from the trial work is roughly a halving of transmission to a partner over a year, and a much bigger reduction in asymptomatic shedding, somewhere in the region of 80 to 90 per cent.

So: a real, measurable reduction, not a guarantee. Anyone telling you it makes transmission impossible is overselling it.

paper_lantern 4 weeks ago

Worth saying that suppressive therapy is one of several things stacked together rather than the whole answer. Condoms reduce risk further, avoiding sex during an outbreak or when you feel one coming reduces it further again.

Stacked, the numbers get quite reassuring. Relying on one of them alone is where people get caught out.

held_note 3 weeks ago

The other half of the decision is how it fits your life. Daily tablets suit some people and not others, and some take it for outbreak control rather than transmission at all. Both are legitimate reasons and worth saying out loud at the appointment.

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