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SafeSexGuide
HERPES
HERPES

Also known as: Cold Sores, Herpes Simplex, Genital Herpes, Oral Herpes

How You Get It (Exposure):

Herpes is spread between partners during sex. There are rare cases described in medical literature where herpes has been spread through very close non-sexual contact: doctor/patient or masseuse/client. Penetration is not required and a condom may not be protective. Although the virus rarely grows on fingers and never on toys, they can act as conduits and carry the virus from one partner to the other.

Warning Signs (Symptoms):

The first sign of a herpes infection might be the same symptoms you've come to recognize from any viral illness: fever, aches, fatigue and loss of appetite. Within a week you begin to notice a burning pain in the skin at the site of infection, followed by a cluster of blisters a day or two later. The blisters are full of herpes virus making you highly contagious. Within three to five days the blisters rupture, leaving behind pink shallow ulcers that crust over and heal. The entire cycle lasts about two weeks. If the herpes infection begins in your mouth or throat, you will have a typical sore throat and the blisters will be hard to spot. When oral herpes recurs, it is usually in the form of a cold sore or blister at the edge of your lip.

Anal herpes is usually very painful and the blisters appear at the edge of your anus. If the infection spreads inside your anus and rectum, you can develop colitis with intense pain during bowel movements, and blood and mucus in your stool.

Getting Checked Out (Diagnosis) / Treatment:

Doctors can diagnose a herpes infection based on the classic appearance of the blisters. They also diagnose herpes by actually culturing the virus from the blisters. If you have a sore throat and don't tell your doctor that you've had oral sex, the doctor may only do a routine bacterial throat culture, and your herpes diagnosis won't be made. Of course, a viral culture can only be taken during an acute outbreak when you have blisters. Your doctor can also check your blood for antibodies to herpes after an outbreak.

Treatment for the initial outbreak is typically Zovirax (Acyclovir) 400mg three times a day for 7 to 10 days, Famvir (Famciclovir) 250mg three times a day for 7 to 10 days or Valtrex (Valacyclovir) 1gm twice a day for 7 to 10 days.

If Left Untreated:

If you wait to see your doctor until your blisters are gone or have already crusted, the culture won't be accurate. A negative result might lull you into a false sense of security that you never had herpes when, in fact, you did.

Prevention:

A condom may not prevent you from getting herpes and penetration isn't necessary. The virus can pass between partners during foreplay involving close skin to skin contact or during oral sex. Although the virus won't grow on fingers or toys, they can act as a conduit carrying the virus between partners. If your partner has a cold sore or blisters on his/her anus or genitals, it might be best not to have sex. A condom covering the blisters will probably protect you as long as you use it from the start of any skin to skin contact. Washing with soap and water after sex may also help decrease your chances of infection.

If you have a herpes infection, keep your hands, partners or toys away from the blisters. You can spread the herpes to other parts of your body (including your eyes). If you've had herpes before, you might learn to notice the earliest signs of an infection (tingling or burning in the skin) and begin the medication immediately. This can drastically shorten if not abort the attack. Although doctors do not know what triggers an attack, they think that stress, immune compromise, sunburn and injury might play a role. Avoiding these typical instigators might help prevent attacks. You might also learn (and avoid) what triggers an outbreak in your own body.

Prevalence:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there are more than 500,000 new cases of genital herpes in the United States each year, with over 30 million Americans infected. Once you have herpes, you have it for life. Herpes outbreaks typically come and go. When an outbreak subsides, the virus enters a latent phase where it hides in your body (probably in large sensory nerves near your lower spine) until something triggers it to travel back down the nerves to your skin and start another attack cycle.


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