Genital Herpes - A Bad Rap?

                

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I?m going to defend genital herpes. Who?s with me?!

Don?t everyone volunteer at once.

Speaking up for an STD isn?t likely to generate you many cocktail party invites, I grant you. But defending genital herpes just might be worth the risk. So what, in fact, is genital herpes? As previously stated, genital herpes is an STD: a Sexually Transmitted Disease. Genital herpes is typically caused by a variation of the herpes virus known as Herpes Simplex Virus 2, or HSV 2. Roughly 1 in 5 -- or 20% -- of the US adult population has genital herpes, and the number of new cases is increasing.

So genital herpes is spread through sexual activity: usually unprotected sexual activity. This makes genital herpes bad, right? A moral punishment? Consider this scenario: A woman who?s been married for several years suddenly has some sort of genital outbreak. She goes to her doctor and is diagnosed with genital herpes. Emotionally devastated, the woman furiously accuses her husband of infidelity, and with just as much passion, he denies it. Unbeknownst to the husband, he does in fact have genital herpes and did in fact pass the infection on to his wife. How did this happen? It turns out the husband contracted genital herpes from his former wife, who herself didn?t realize that she was infected. So who in this story is the ?guilty? one? Who behaved immorally? Does this scenario seem far-fetched? Do you think something like this could never actually happen?

Not only can it happen, it does happen. Genital herpes is sometimes referred to as a ?silent? condition, because most afflicted people don?t realize they have it. In fact, up to 80% of people with genital herpes don?t know that they have genital herpes. Consider for a moment what that would mean: only 2 of every 10 people with genital herpes would know that they?re infected. How could someone with genital herpes not be aware of their status? Because most people with genital herpes don?t show symptoms; or, at the very least, don?t show symptoms that they recognize as so clearly unusual that they seek medical treatment. Genital herpes isn?t like some other STDs, where the norm is for obvious symptoms to appear within a number of days after infection. Genital herpes infection typically never leads to obvious symptoms -- or obvious symptoms can literally appear years after infection took place.

So since genital herpes is a ?silent? condition, it may not always be a badge of dishonor after all. Any other reason we should spare genital herpes our collective condemnation? How about since it doesn?t cause any serious health problems? (People with immune system deficiencies are sometimes an exception, as are infants.) Or that it doesn?t cause long-term damage to the reproductive organs? Or that it doesn?t require any sort of medical treatment? Or that when symptoms do appear, they typically lessen in severity and frequency over time, without any outside intervention at all? Or that when someone with genital herpes does decide to seek treatment, there are a number of highly effective treatments available? Or that people with genital herpes don?t become re-infected with the genital herpes virus?

Let me stop here and offer a qualifier: I am not saying that genital herpes is a good thing. Genital herpes can be painful, inconvenient, and emotionally difficult to deal with. Additionally, should an infant become infected with genital herpes from its mother during birth, the condition is considered very serious. An attempt should be made to avoid all STDs, under the knowledge that abstinence is the only sure way not to get an STD, with condom use being an extremely important second option.

What I?m trying to get across is that genital herpes isn?t some debilitating, shameful curse brought down on sexual deviants. Genital herpes is a condition caused by a virus, a virus that?s been around a long time and one that millions of people have. Like any other virus, genital herpes doesn?t make judgments about a person?s character, doesn?t do a background check before taking up residence. All things considered, in the world of infections transmitted by sex, someone could do a lot worse than to contract genital herpes. A whole lot worse.

Get more genital herpes information at Herpes. Chas Oliver can be reached here.

Genital Herpes - A Bad Rap?

                

>>  Instantly STOP The Bloody HERPES. Click Here <<

 

I?m going to defend genital herpes. Who?s with me?!

Don?t everyone volunteer at once.

Speaking up for an STD isn?t likely to generate you many cocktail party invites, I grant you. But defending genital herpes just might be worth the risk. So what, in fact, is genital herpes? As previously stated, genital herpes is an STD: a Sexually Transmitted Disease. Genital herpes is typically caused by a variation of the herpes virus known as Herpes Simplex Virus 2, or HSV 2. Roughly 1 in 5 -- or 20% -- of the US adult population has genital herpes, and the number of new cases is increasing.

So genital herpes is spread through sexual activity: usually unprotected sexual activity. This makes genital herpes bad, right? A moral punishment? Consider this scenario: A woman who?s been married for several years suddenly has some sort of genital outbreak. She goes to her doctor and is diagnosed with genital herpes. Emotionally devastated, the woman furiously accuses her husband of infidelity, and with just as much passion, he denies it. Unbeknownst to the husband, he does in fact have genital herpes and did in fact pass the infection on to his wife. How did this happen? It turns out the husband contracted genital herpes from his former wife, who herself didn?t realize that she was infected. So who in this story is the ?guilty? one? Who behaved immorally? Does this scenario seem far-fetched? Do you think something like this could never actually happen?

Not only can it happen, it does happen. Genital herpes is sometimes referred to as a ?silent? condition, because most afflicted people don?t realize they have it. In fact, up to 80% of people with genital herpes don?t know that they have genital herpes. Consider for a moment what that would mean: only 2 of every 10 people with genital herpes would know that they?re infected. How could someone with genital herpes not be aware of their status? Because most people with genital herpes don?t show symptoms; or, at the very least, don?t show symptoms that they recognize as so clearly unusual that they seek medical treatment. Genital herpes isn?t like some other STDs, where the norm is for obvious symptoms to appear within a number of days after infection. Genital herpes infection typically never leads to obvious symptoms -- or obvious symptoms can literally appear years after infection took place.

So since genital herpes is a ?silent? condition, it may not always be a badge of dishonor after all. Any other reason we should spare genital herpes our collective condemnation? How about since it doesn?t cause any serious health problems? (People with immune system deficiencies are sometimes an exception, as are infants.) Or that it doesn?t cause long-term damage to the reproductive organs? Or that it doesn?t require any sort of medical treatment? Or that when symptoms do appear, they typically lessen in severity and frequency over time, without any outside intervention at all? Or that when someone with genital herpes does decide to seek treatment, there are a number of highly effective treatments available? Or that people with genital herpes don?t become re-infected with the genital herpes virus?

Let me stop here and offer a qualifier: I am not saying that genital herpes is a good thing. Genital herpes can be painful, inconvenient, and emotionally difficult to deal with. Additionally, should an infant become infected with genital herpes from its mother during birth, the condition is considered very serious. An attempt should be made to avoid all STDs, under the knowledge that abstinence is the only sure way not to get an STD, with condom use being an extremely important second option.

What I?m trying to get across is that genital herpes isn?t some debilitating, shameful curse brought down on sexual deviants. Genital herpes is a condition caused by a virus, a virus that?s been around a long time and one that millions of people have. Like any other virus, genital herpes doesn?t make judgments about a person?s character, doesn?t do a background check before taking up residence. All things considered, in the world of infections transmitted by sex, someone could do a lot worse than to contract genital herpes. A whole lot worse.

Get more genital herpes information at Herpes. Chas Oliver can be reached here.

How Can You Tell Someone Has Genital Herpes?

                

>>  Instantly STOP The Bloody HERPES. Click Here <<

 

How can you tell someone has genital herpes? Do you take a good look at the person? Do you ask and look straight in their eyes? Do you inquire about their sex lives? Well, my answer is no, maybe and maybe.

It may be a good idea to ask someone if they?re aware of having genital herpes. The more sexual partners a person has had in their lives, the more likely they?re to be infected by herpes. But these methods are quite insufficient. Did you know that the majority of people who have genital or oral herpes are not aware of it? So how do you explain that? Simple, many oral or genital herpes infected people just don?t have any herpes symptoms, others have some symptoms which are mild enough to confuse them with a rash or a mosquito bite or anything that may cause, redness, swelling, itching, burning and blisters, and some may not even know what herpes symptoms are.

The fact that somebody doesn?t have or recognize herpes symptoms doesn?t mean they don?t have it. About 25% of the US population is infected with genital herpes, with women being more affected than men. Studies have shown that the vast majority (80%-90%) of people who have genital herpes have not been diagnosed with the condition.

According to a recent paper published by Carnegie Mellon University in January 2006, most sexually active teenage girls know almost nothing about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), except AIDS, until it is too late. Another 2006 study led by Dr. Herbert Kaufman, Boyd Professor of Ophthalmology at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, found herpes virus-1 in 98 percent of healthy participants. None of them displayed any symptoms; however they shed the herpes virus in their saliva and tears at least once during the course of the 30-day study. Even though this study didn?t target genital herpes directly, it demonstrates that most people can be totally unaware of carrying the virus and being infected by herpes.

Shed or shedding means that the virus is present on the skin and ready to be transmitted. Herpes is transmitted through skin contact 98% of the time. Studies have shown that shedding may occur in almost 40% of HSV-2 (usually associated with genital herpes) infected people. Asymptomatic viral shedding may last 1 to 5 days, meaning that a person can be contagious without presenting any symptoms at the time. The average duration of each period of viral shedding has been assessed through laboratory studies but is just an estimate.

So how can you tell for a fact if someone has genital herpes? The only way to know is to look at blood, PCR or swab test results. Swab and PCR tests are very accurate when they detect herpes. However, if a test was performed late or delivered to the lab late, it may return a false negative result. Western blot test, a blood test, is the most accurate test available but may return a false negative if the person tested was first infected within the past 3 months. So it is not easy to know if a person has genital herpes or not.

One last consideration, herpes Simplex 1 or HSV-1 usually causes oral herpes and cold sores and herpes simplex-2, genital herpes. But herpes virus-1 genital herpes is becoming more and more prevalent nowadays. It is mostly transmitted during oral sex from a person who?s having an oral herpes infection with or without symptoms. So if getting genital herpes is a concern to you, you should consider oral herpes as well as genital herpes when asking a partner.

As you can see, it is very difficult to assess if a partner has genital herpes. There are no proven products to prevent genital herpes transmission at the moment. Some are currently undergoing testing for FDA approval and will hopefully be marketed soon. In the meanwhile, the best option is using a condom.

Nathalie Foy is the author of Best-Herpes-Treatments.com which provides great information, tips, advice and product comparisons on medical, natural and herbal treatments for cold sores, oral and genital herpes.