Hi,
I haven't directly worked in recruiting, and am a fairly new MO in the CF. Having stated those caveats up front, I would be shocked if a candidate was barred from enrollment for this reason. Most CF medical personnel will readily attest that (unfortunately, and I guess, embarrassingly perhaps), STD's are quite common amongst our personnel, as Monday morning sick parade proves time and time again. The only problem with genital herpes, of course, is that it is a chronic "incurable" condition. In extremely rare cases, where an individual is immunocompromised or something, there is the possibility of serious herpetic complications (e.g. herpes encephalitis).
In practice, if an already serving member picks up this diagnosis, medical staff tend to inwardly shrug and add it to the person's med docs. There is no change to G or O factor, not even the remotest consideration of a TCAT, and essentially no deployment considerations. Yes, counselling a person on precautions and transmission is important, for all the reasons mentioned above. Practically speaking, there is a HUGE difference (medically and politically) between standard HSV and HIV (this is in reference to some of the above comments). I guess these disorders can be compared because they are infectious disease, generally sexually transmitted. But for all intents and purposes, the similarities end there.
Virtually no follow-up to a lab is required. The person gets outbreaks from time to time, they know what they've got, and they are treated empirically. Some physicians don't even bother to do a physical exam, especially if a chaperone would be required. We ask, "Is this your standard outbreak? Does it look or feel any different than normal?" (and so forth), and then just generally trust the patient. It could even be argued by some that it would be "cruel" to subject a patient to an unecessary exam for "confirmation" that, yes ... the slightly weepy vesicular genital lesions, that occurred after a period of stress, and were preceded by a day or two of vague burning or tingling sensations are, in fact, consistent with HSV. I'd happily treat such a patient over the phone if a medic gave me that history.
Long story short, I am reasonably confident, perhaps 90 - 95 %, that this would not be a significant consideration for entry into the CF. I wouldn't bet my life on it, but I'd pay for your dinner if I'm wrong.
