Well having had a rummage online as I'm stuck at home with a lousy cold, it seems that pretty much any of us could have it unless we've been tested and told we haven't since the last time we had sex - I'd always thought that everybody who caught genital herpes had a really nasty attack straight away, but it seems this isn't the case and it can hang about for ages before making it's first move when you get a bit run down or poorly (which means I pretty much definitely haven't got it, or it would have shown itself in the last couple of days). So the OP may have just caught it, or picked it up months or even years ago, which in itself is scary stuff.

I do believe that the stigma attached to what amounts to a cold sore because of where it occurs is ridiculously unfair, but the issue for me in this particular context isn't really one of health but of discretion - there are plenty of very contagious illnesses we can all catch, but whilst I could have caught my cold (or the chicken pox, meningitis even) from somebody on the train or in the paper shop, anybody suddenly showing signs of genital herpes without any previous can only really have been doing one thing, which is why I don't think I could continue doing full service unless I'd taken at least a year out to see how things were going to progress. The thing about whoring is, you can always drop it and come back - it's not like you're going to miss much.

I agree with Dani that it's scary although I'm not sure it's more so than hepatitis (which is my horror-disease ) but I'm inclined to think that some natural immunity must get built up or else we'd surely all have it? Slightly off topic, but does anybody know any products that might be helpful in fending off this sort of thing - it may or may not be helpful for the OP, but I wouldn't mind knowing if there are any natural anti-viral supplements worth thinking about? Echinacea was one I remember, but I think that might mainly be for colds.