[Genital herpes and quality of life]. / Herpès et qualité de vie.

Genital herpes is a frequent chronic, sexually-transmitted disease among adults. Besides its physical consequences that largely depend on the frequency and intensity of recurrences, genital herpes frequently induces a psychological morbidity. This paper discusses the instruments of measure that can be used in the evaluation of health-related quality of life among infected patients and states the results of a French study that confirmed the substantial psychological morbidity caused by genital herpes.