This article was compiled by Dr. Wujian Ke and published with permission ( ) based on the CDC 2015 Herpes Virus Treatment Guidelines. If you have any questions about genital herpes, please contact Dr. Wujian Ke at the Department of Venereal Diseases, Guangdong Dermatology Hospital by visiting my personal page ( ) Genital herpes is a chronic, lifelong viral infection. The herpes simplex virus (HSV) that causes genital herpes is divided into two types: HSV-1 and HSV-2. Most recurrent genital herpes is caused by HSV-2, and approximately 50 million people in the United States are infected with HSV-2. However, an increasing proportion of anal genital herpes virus infections are caused by HSV-1, especially among young women and male to male contacts. Most people infected with HSV-2 are undiagnosed. Many have mild or unrecognizable symptoms but develop intermittent viral shedding in the anogenital region. Most genital herpes is transmitted through unaware HSV-infected or asymptomatic infected individuals. Treatment should address the chronic course of genital herpes and not only focus on treating a single acute episode of genital herpes. The clinical diagnosis of genital herpes is difficult due to the lack of typical prodromal manifestations (e.g., the presence of multiple painful blisters or ulcers) in many infected individuals. Genital HSV-2 infection is more likely to present with recurrent and subclinical viral shedding than genital HSV-1 infection. Because the patient’s prognosis and the type of counseling needed depend on the type of genital herpes infection (HSV-1 or HSV-2), laboratory HSV typing testing should be performed in patients with genital herpes infection. Clinicians should provide virologic and serologic testing specific to both HSV types for persons infected with or at risk for other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). People with genital herpes infection should be tested for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This article was compiled by Dr. Wujian Ke and is published with permission () based on the CDC 2015 Herpesvirus Treatment Guidelines. If you have any questions regarding this article, please feel free to contact me by visiting my personal page ( )