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Those aren’t my Herpes… Then whose Herpes are they?

Frederick Tanne Kirkland Ellis.jpgIn September, Kirkland & Ellis partner Frederick Tanne sued his wife, her lover, and her father for giving him herpes. (We mentioned this lawsuit in passing in Morning Docket at the time of the complaint, and many of you complained about the item not getting its own post. Well, here you go!)

Tanne claimed to have discovered his wife’s infidelity when he found herpes-treatment medicine in their bathroom. According to the New York Post, Tanne got tested for herpes and “discovered he was infected with the incurable virus.” He sued his wife, accusing her of multiple extramarital affairs, and seeking compensation for medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering.

Mrs. Tanne’s dad is a doctor, and prescribed the herpes medication Valtrex to her. He denied his daughter had an affair. His explanation:

[Amy Tanne’s father, Samuel] Messing denied that his daughter was infected.

“My daughter does not have genital herpes,” he said. “This is pure nonsense. I prescribed Valtrex for a cold sore on her lip. She never had a cold sore until she married him.”

He also denied that his daughter ever had an affair.

“He just wants to make things difficult for my family,” Messing said.

The doctor may be a reliable expert witness. The embarrassing twist in the case, after the jump.

Tanne may have been a little hasty in filing the suit against his wife. It looks like the glove doesn’t quite fit, and the infidelity shoe is on the other foot. (We love mixing metaphors, almost as much as Tanne allegedly loves mixing it up with herpes-infected ladies.)

Turns out Mrs. Tanne doesn’t have herpes. The latest from the New York Post:

White-shoe attorney Frederick Tanne, 47, filed suit against his wife of 22 years, Amy Tanne, 46, earlier this year, charging her straying had left him with Herpes Simplex Virus 2, an STD that caused him to suffer “pain, suffering, emotional, mental, psychological and physical injuries and loss of enjoyment of life.”

In court papers filed yesterday, Amy’s lawyer, Thomas Mullaney, said his client had a blood test last month and “presented as ‘negative’ for HSV-2, more commonly known as genital herpes, with which Mr. Tanne is allegedly infected.”

On the plus side, assuming her cold sore has cleared up, Mrs. Tanne can give Mr. Tanne the remainder of her Valtrex.

Taking a look at Tanne’s bio, we’re relieved for Kirkland’s sake to see he is involved in M&A and corporate restructuring, not litigation.

CUCKOLD ‘SORE’ AT HIS WIFE [New York Post]
HERPES SUIT TWIST [New York Post]

Comments

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1 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:08 PM

second

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2 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:09 PM

First

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3 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:09 PM

Boy I'm Firsty!

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4 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:10 PM

1 is an idiot. But Tanne is an even bigger idiot.

NY to Valtrex - stat.

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5 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:11 PM

Fifth place.

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6 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:13 PM

This guy is so busted.

K&E to massive divorce settlements.

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8 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:13 PM

what had been really good is if kash could have somehow fit in an "Ice pirates" reference in here...but alas, this blog is in the tttoilet.

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9 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:14 PM

what had been really good is if kash could have somehow fit in an "Ice pirates" reference in here...but alas, this blog is in the tttoilet.

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10 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:14 PM

Herpes: Everything is bigger in Texas.

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11 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:15 PM

We ask for an open thread to discuss the S.Ct and we get herpes.

Back to ABAjournal I go.

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12 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:15 PM

I smell a plot line for Gossip Girl.

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13 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:22 PM

what had been really good is if kash could have somehow fit in an "Ice pirates" reference in here...but alas, this blog is in the tttoilet.

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14 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:23 PM

sweet: #s 8 and 9 here. i double posted. sweet.

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15 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:23 PM

This post is nothing without photos. Link please.

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16 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:25 PM

Great to see Kash back with a post that relates to law, sex and STDs. Well done.

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17 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:26 PM

Bullsh*t...I still believe the husband.

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18 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:26 PM

(1) More than 50% of Americans have the cold sore virus; (2) Most people that carry the cold sore virus do not have cold sores; (3) The cold sore virus can easily be transmitted to another person, which is why more than 50% of Americans carry the virus; (4) Valtrex treats the cold sore virus along with genital herpes by limiting outbreaks; and (5) This guy is a douche

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19 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:29 PM

Herpes blood tests are notoriously unreliable. This site sucks now, btw.

20 Posted by nervous T10 1L | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:30 PM

*adds "herpes free and lovin it!" to resume...makes note to steer clear of mr. tanne if i work at k&e*

-nervous T-10 1L
email job leads to nervoust101l@yahoo.com

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21 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:31 PM

First to say that Kash is an idiot - the doctor could not be an expert witness because he is already a fact witness.

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22 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:32 PM

Heh heh, "Messing" around. Too easy.

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23 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:39 PM

21, Kash never went to law school.

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24 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:43 PM

Only the gays get the herpes. That is why everyone calls it "gerpes"

I thought this was common knowledge.

25 Posted by nervous T10 1L | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:46 PM

that partner sure looks happy even though he has herpes....

*wishes i had herpes if it meant being a partner, hell i'd even take herpes for a 1L sa position*

-nervous T-10 1L
email job leads to nervoust101l@yahoo.com

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26 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:48 PM

First to say 21 is an idiot - cops and federal agents routinely testify as expert witnesses in their own cases.

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27 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:48 PM

Mr. Tanne seems like a real joy to work with. I hope he enjoys the publicity, I wonder how many new clients he expects to get now.

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28 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:49 PM

Damn guidos and their adulterous behavior. Somebody should've told him to be careful around the skanks on the Jersey Shore.

-Prestigious Southerner

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29 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:50 PM

Texas herpes are really really big, just like Texas.

Everything is bigger in Texas.

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30 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:52 PM

guys at my high school used to erroneously sue their wives for catching herpes all the time. it was no big deal.

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31 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:53 PM

"Those aren't my Herpes... Then whose Herpes are they?" Um, maybe Sutherland's?

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32 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:54 PM

HSV-1 (causes cold sores) can also cause genital herpes.

Is he claiming he has HSV-2 or just genital herpes?

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33 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:55 PM


I caught The Herp in the men's bathroom at HLS.

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34 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:57 PM

I caught herpes riding a tractor naked.

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35 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:58 PM

Tanne is a world class dope. Hope for the clients' sakes he is not calling the shots on litigation at his firm.

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36 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:58 PM

This Frederick Tanne guy looks familiar... http://rumordujour.blogspot.com/2008/06/rumor-du-jour-thursday-june-26-2008.html

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37 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:59 PM

30-- hilarious.

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38 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 12:59 PM

Ahhhhh, Emory.

www.emory.TTT.edu

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39 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:03 PM

Agree that 21 is wrong on the law, and an asshole for calling Kash an idiot.

Nothing precludes a doctor who examined a party from testifying both to his findings and offering his expert opinion as to cause, etc.

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40 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:09 PM

21, a witness can be both a fact witness and an expert witness

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41 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:09 PM

38 - Obviously someone at Emory is performing far better than you at your firm. Don't be so bitter. Then again, if I were you, I would probably be bitter also. After all, most people aren't born with a 1 inch penis.

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42 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:16 PM

Emory and Ivory ....living together in perfect harmony....

Tonight -- One Night Only ...."Everyone in Texas gets AIDS"

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43 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:17 PM

20 is a pretty funny troll of a 1L

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44 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:18 PM

His wife certainly has standing to sue him for a micropenis.

Who has standing to sue him for terminal stupidity? His partners?

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45 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:18 PM

41 - usually smaller, assuming by "people" you mean "boys." You're not a father who's ever had to change a diaper, are you?

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46 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:21 PM

http://endofesq.com/index.php

Only somewhat less entertaining than a donut on a stick.

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47 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:29 PM

18 has herpes

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48 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:34 PM

Kash you realize it's KirKland & Ellis not Kirland & Ellis right?

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49 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:37 PM

Tanne looks like Smilin' Bob..... it all makes sense.

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50 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:39 PM

Texas herpes are really really big, just like Texas.

Everything is bigger in Texas.

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51 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:44 PM

ATL needs more herpes-related threads.

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52 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:51 PM

Space Herpes to 190k!

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53 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:54 PM

19 and 32 are correct. Blood test was good public relations ammo, but not much else.

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54 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:57 PM

32, the article says he specified HSV -2 in his suit. So if she doesn't have it, he got it elsewhere.

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55 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 2:07 PM

A fact witness can also be an expert witness, but it's generally not a good idea. This is especially true if the witness is the party's father.
But I don't think Kash meant "expert witness" as if this were a trial. She just meant "he should know."

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56 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 2:09 PM

This guy is clearly not WILDMAN HARROLD material.

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57 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 2:14 PM

Blood test won't always detect herpes. The surest diagnosis is taking a sample from the lesions themselves.

Really, though, what's the big deal? Something that half of all adults harbor shouldn't be stigmatized. Herpes ain't HIV.

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58 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 2:14 PM

now I know where I got my herpes from...

- K&E 2008 Summer Associate

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59 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 2:16 PM

Nice post Kash.

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60 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 2:25 PM

As an Emory 3L, I am so glad to be a future fellow alumn with this class act!!!!!!!! He can give me herpes any day ;-)

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61 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 2:25 PM

Maybe they'll be on the commercials:

"I have genital herpes."
"And I don't."
"And I sued her because I thought she gave them to me."
"And I just had a cold sore, awkwardly handled by my father."

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62 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 2:31 PM

Wait...the Enzyte guy is missing? Holy shit!

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63 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 2:45 PM

What a fuckup.

At least change your name in advance to something less Googleable if you're going to file a suit like this.

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64 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 4:55 PM

I don't usually jump on the "bad writing" bandwagon, but in this case the terrible writing was pretty funny. Reading the opening lines, I thought the guy was suing his wife and her father, both for giving him herpes, and I thought "WTF, her father gave him herpes? She had sex with her father? He had sex with her father? Is this an episode of Jerry Springer?"
Still a pretty funny story, but not nearly as salacious as those badly written first few sentences suggest....

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65 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 4:56 PM

Texas has the highest # of herpes per capita, followed closely by most of the other southern states.

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66 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 4:58 PM

If you have to call yourself prestigious, you aren't.

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67 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 5:15 PM

Was her lover Ron Mexico?

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68 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 5:17 PM

Genital herpes is quite common and is not a serious illness. Approximately 25% of women have it, and a slightly smaller percentage of men. Very few people who have it ever know that they are infected, and yes, the blood tests are unreliable. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of the population carries HSV-1, which can also cause genital outbreaks (if the genital area is exposed). Finally, a person can have genital herpes for years before developing symptoms for the first time--the appearance of symptoms doesn't necessarily mean infidelity has occurred. In short, as others have said..... this case is bs.

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69 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 5:21 PM

Genital herpes is quite common and is not a serious illness. Approximately 25% of women have it, and a slightly smaller percentage of men. Very few people who have it ever know that they are infected, and yes, the blood tests are unreliable. Furthermore, the overwhelming majority of the population carries HSV-1, which can also cause genital outbreaks (if the genital area is exposed). Finally, a person can have genital herpes for years before developing symptoms for the first time--the appearance of symptoms doesn't necessarily mean infidelity has occurred. In short, as others have said..... this case is bs.

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70 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 5:30 PM

47 - spot on.

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71 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 5:55 PM

Testing the skin is only helpful if you have an outbreak or if the virus is shedding (which may also be when there are no symptoms of the virus). Blood tests may be unreliable, but they're also the only way to test for the majority of people, since most people with either herpes virus don't generally have symptoms (or their symptoms are so mild they don't recognize them).

Everyone has HSV-1. Seriously like 90% of the population. Ever share a drink with anyone? You've got herpes. No one cares about HSV-1 because it rarely causes serious symptoms.

HSV-2 is what people tend to mean when they say they have herpes. HSV-2 is more likely to cause symptoms and (from what I understand) outbreaks can be excruciatingly painful. Generally HSV-2 is referred to as "genital herpes" while HSV-1 is referred to as "cold sores," although you can get either on your mouth and/or your genitals, and any number of other places. It's just most common (at least traditionally, probably becoming less so as oral sex becomes more and more the norm) to have HSV-1 on the mouth and HSV-2 on the genitals.

Also, chicken pox is herpes (herpes zoster). That herpes virus also never leaves your system, but the majority of people only suffer a herpes zoster outbreak once in their lives (hopefully when they're kids so as not to cause infertility problems). Sometimes the infection will manifest symptoms more than once, usually in older folks or people with immune problems (shingles).

Also, having one type of herpes simplex apparently makes you less likely to contract the other in the infected area.

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72 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 8:10 PM

11: before you get to high and mighty....

http://www.abajournal.com/news/divorce_drama_kirkland_partner_sues_wife_re_alleged_affair_std/

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73 Posted by guest | Permalink Wednesday, November 12, 2008 8:10 PM

11: before you get too high and mighty....

http://www.abajournal.com/news/divorce_drama_kirkland_partner_sues_wife_re_alleged_affair_std/

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74 Posted by guest | Permalink Thursday, November 13, 2008 6:34 AM

Slander per se in NY: an unprivileged publication alleging that the person slandered suffers or has suffered from a "loathsome disease."

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75 Posted by guest | Permalink Thursday, November 13, 2008 7:10 AM

He probably got his herpes at Emory. I know I did.

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76 Posted by guest | Permalink Thursday, November 13, 2008 10:34 AM

18, 68, 69, 71 - All are presently experiencing raging outbreaks of herpes.

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77 Posted by guest | Permalink Thursday, November 13, 2008 12:02 PM

76: so is Texas.

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78 Posted by guest | Permalink Thursday, November 13, 2008 12:12 PM

When people have herpes, it's important to tell potential sexual partners before they become physically involved. Many people think that herpes can only be transmitted when there are active blisters or sores, but that isn't true. The virus still lives in the skin, even when it looks normal.

More and more people with herpes have to find their partners on online dating sites such as STDcupid.net.

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