Genital herpes
The herpes virus (HSV) is easily passed from person to person by close, direct contact including: kissing unprotected vaginal, anal or oral sex (without a condom) sharing sex toys that aren't washed or covered with a new condom each time they're used your genitals coming into contact with your partner's genitals – this means you can get genital herpes from someone even if there is no penetration, orgasm or ejaculation Sometimes you can catch herpes when your sexual partner has no visible sores or symptoms. This is because the virus can become active on the skin without causing any visible blisters or sores. This is sometimes called 'asymptomatic shedding’. Herpes can also be passed to a newborn baby during childbirth. This is less common if the first episode of herpes is diagnosed before or at the beginning of pregnancy, and if there are no visible ulcers at the time of delivery. Sometimes medications are started towards the end of pregnancy to reduce this risk.