Genital herpes can recur for life.
Genital herpes is a common sexually transmitted disease caused by the herpes simplex virus that infects the urogenital and perianal skin mucous membranes.The herpes simplex viruses that cause genital herpes are HSV-1 and HSV-2. Most genital herpes is caused by HSV-2.
After the initial infection, the virus remains dormant in the body and can be activated by a drop in resistance. Some people have no or very mild symptoms and find it difficult to realize they have the disease, while others present mainly with blisters, pain, itching or ulcers in the genital area. The disease often presents a chronic, recurring course and is usually difficult to cure.
For patients with first-episode genital herpes, after treatment, the disappearance of systemic symptoms, skin lesions subside, local pain, sensory abnormalities and lymph node enlargement disappear, that is, clinical cure. However, the disease is prone to recurrence, especially within 1 year after the initial infection, recurrence is more frequent.
Genital HSV-2 infection is more likely to recur than HSV-1 infection. Recurrence tends to decrease as the disease progresses, but it is still not possible to cure the disease or avoid recurrence completely.