The Ethics Of A Life-Long Herpes Infection

From day one my own personal life-long herpes infection has presented me with several ethical challenges. It has challenged me on the question of who to tell and when. It has challenged me on the issue of what to say and how to others with herpes. It has challenged me on the question of “Do I have any responsibilities towards trying to prevent the people in the community who do not herpes from getting it, and if so what are they”?

On how to tell and when:

When I was diagnosed with herpes the doctors told me that it was safe to have sex with others as long as I avoided having sex during outbreaks and that I would get warning signs of when an outbreak would be coming. Luckily, we are working with much better information these days. A person with herpes is potentially contagious every-single day of the year and safer sex including using a combination of a condom or dental dam and an anti-viral gel is the best way of ensuring that one
isn’t inadvertently spreading the virus.

I was an irresponsible coward when I first got herpes. Because thedoctors told me that I wasn’t contagious without outbreaks and because I was in the habit of...