Clinical Guidelines

The New Zealand Herpes Foundation and Sexually Transmitted Infections Education Foundation (STIEF) produce the genital herpes clinical guidelines, which are updated regularly. 

View The Guidelines for the Management of Genital Herpes in Aotearoa New Zealand - 13th Edition 2024 here. You are also able to download chapters or a copy of the full guidelines there.

Alternatively, download the Genital Herpes Summary of Guidelines. 

These guidelines are made up of an introduction and seven chapters covering the following:

1. Epidemiology, Transmission, and Diagnosis
2. First Clinical Episode of Genital Herpes
3. Recurrent Episodes of Genital Herpes
4. Genital Herpes in Pregnancy
5. Neonatal HSV Infection
6. Genital HSV Infection in Childhood
7. Counselling a Diagnosis

STIEF also produces the Guidelines for the Management of Genital, Anal and Throat HPV Infection, which can be viewed here.

NZSHS – STI Guidelines for use in primary care

The New Zealand Sexual Health Society (NZSHS) STI guidelines for use in primary care settings were revised in 2021 and are available at https://www.sti.guidelines.org.nz. These have been developed collaboratively by clinical experts and professional associations to guide clinical care. Every effort has been taken to ensure that the information in these resources is correct at the time of publishing.

View the following guidelines here.

Infections

• Bacterial Vaginosis
• Candidiasis
• Chlamydia 
• Ectoparasites
• Genital warts
• Gonorrhoea 
• Hepatitis A, B & C
• Herpes
• HIV
• Mycoplasma genitalium
• Syphilis
• Trichomoniasis

Syndromes

• Anorectal syndromes
• Epididymo-orchitis 
• Genital skin lesions
• Genital ulcers
• Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) 
• Urethritis 
• Vaginal discharge 

Populations & Situations

• Correctional facilities
• Men who have sex with men
• Māori framework
• People who are not eligible for publicly funded healthcare
• People who use drugs
• Refugees and asylum seekers
• STI prevention
• Transgender and non-binary people
• Women who have sex with women
• Young people

Other Useful Resources

The following resources are available at https://www.nzshs.org/resources/.

• Express STI Testing Questionnaire
• How to Take a Vaginal Swab
• The Gender Unicorn
• STI Notification Flowchart (Public Health) 
• Self Swab Instructions
• Partner Notification Guideline