Genital herpes occurs mainly at the cervical, vaginal, vulvar and urethral orifices in women; in men, it is present at the penis and urethral orifices and basically invades the skin and mucous membranes below the waist. It is divided into: primary herpes and recurrent herpes. I. Primary genital herpes The first infection with the virus and the onset of the disease is called primary genital herpes. The incubation period is 3-5 days, with a burning sensation at the infected area, followed soon by clusters of red papules on top of erythema, accompanied by a slight itch, which soon turns into blisters or papules, and in severe cases the lesions can turn into pustules after 3-5 days, followed by the formation of patches of vesicles and ulcers, with pain, and finally crusting. The entire course of the disease is about 20 days. Systemic symptoms are obvious: there may be fever, headache, discomfort, increased leucorrhea, difficulty in urination, and local lymph node enlargement. The frequency of recurrent genital herpes attacks is high in the first year after the primary genital herpes has healed, and then gradually decreases. Recurrence usually occurs within 1-4 weeks after the primary rash has healed. Recurrence may be triggered by fever, menstrual flow, sexual intercourse, emotional stress, indigestion, and climate change. The attack is preceded by prodromal symptoms, such as mild local tingling, pain or itching, but the systemic symptoms are not obvious, and the damage is blistered or pustular, and later ulcerated, crusted, and healed in about 10 days.