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Can sperms get infected with herpes if a man has herpes on the penis?

Dr Kamlendar Singh
Senior Consultant, Dermatology and Venereology,
Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi

Q: My 24 years old boyfriend has herpes on the head of his penis. We always use a condom during intercourse and still after two years I do not have the herpes virus. In future, I would like to have children and I understand that I cannot conceive in the traditional way. So if I use his sperms to conceive, will they contain the herpes virus?

A:The HSV virus is shed from the mucosal surface where the eruptions appear off and on. The sperms are produced in the testes; later these can always get infected when they pass over the surface from where the virus is being shed.