Herpes Hazards

It's well documented that the chances of transmitting HIV through sexual contact climb as the level of virus in the blood and in sexual fluids rises. But a new study also shows gay and bisexual HIV-positive men face another transmission risk factor -- coinfection with herpes. Reporting in the journal AIDS, researchers in San Diego found that herpes coinfection -- regardless of whether an active outbreak was present -- was a transmission risk factor. But the odds were increased only when the HIV-positive partner had herpes and the HIV-negative partner did not; when both men or just the HIV-negative partner had herpes, transmission risks did not increase.