Herpes increases because oral sex thought safe

Sexually active gay men are at increasing risk of contracting type 1 herpes simplex virus as a sexually transmitted disease, Australian researchers said this week.

As oral sex becomes more prevalent, sexual transmission of the infection—normally associated with cold sores around the mouth—is increasing, Andrew Grulich from the University of New South Wales and colleagues say in the Journal of Infectious Diseases (2006;194:561-70).

“We've demonstrated … the first prospective data to convincingly show that oral sex is a risk factor for HSV-1 [herpes simplex virus type 1] infection,” Dr Grulich says. “What we're …