Honestly, with both HPV and herpes, condoms aren't terribly effective.
While condoms certainly aren't foolproof at preventing HPV transmission -- and while I don't believe there are exact stats on HSV transmission -- using condoms does reduce the rate of transmission (http://www.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=Human_Papillomavirus_%28HPV%29#How_can_I_prevent_HPV.3F) by 70%.
I also wonder if maybe some strains are worse than others, so that people who notice have a really bad strain?
As far as I know, there are only two strains of herpes simplex (http://www.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=Herpes_%28HSV-1/HSV-2%29#What.27s_the_difference_between_HSV-1_and_HSV-2.3F), HSV-1 and HSV-2. I'd guess, then, that whether someone shows symptoms or not depends more on factors other than the strain of the virus -- perhaps individuals' immune systems and/or sheer dumb luck account for lots.
no subject
While condoms certainly aren't foolproof at preventing HPV transmission -- and while I don't believe there are exact stats on HSV transmission -- using condoms does reduce the rate of transmission (http://www.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=Human_Papillomavirus_%28HPV%29#How_can_I_prevent_HPV.3F) by 70%.
I also wonder if maybe some strains are worse than others, so that people who notice have a really bad strain?
As far as I know, there are only two strains of herpes simplex (http://www.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=Herpes_%28HSV-1/HSV-2%29#What.27s_the_difference_between_HSV-1_and_HSV-2.3F), HSV-1 and HSV-2. I'd guess, then, that whether someone shows symptoms or not depends more on factors other than the strain of the virus -- perhaps individuals' immune systems and/or sheer dumb luck account for lots.