by Brenda Schmitt

Created on: September 14, 2009

Herpes affects 1 in five people in America. Approximately 80,000 people are thought to have active cases and 50 to 80 percent of all adults have had oral herpes at some time in their life. Herpes is causes by a virus. Herpes simplex one causes oral herpes and genital herpes is generally caused by herpes simplex two.

Herpes is transmitted by skin contact. Contact such as kissing and sexual intercourse can spread the disease. Herpes simplex one which causes oral herpes, more commonly known as a cold sore, can also be passed by oral sexual contact when an active lesion is present on the mouth.

The initial herpes infection develops two to twenty days after exposure. It may be so mild as to go unnoticed especially in people who have some immunity due to previous facial herpes or cold sores. In some suffers the initial outbreak causes fever, chills, malaise, swollen glands and headaches. It may present as an almost flu like illness except the sufferer will also have genital lesions which are painful. Generally subsequent outbreaks are not as debilitating though the genital lesions can be very painful. In others herpes infection may be mistaken for urinary tract infections, jock itch, insect bites or some other mild condition.

Diagnosis is made by visual inspection by your doctor and a culture of an open lesion. Symptoms of herpes can occur randomly with no particular pattern. Stress, poor diet, illness, steroid usage, surgical procedure can increase risk of outbreaks. Exposure to excessive ultraviolet light increases oral out breaks of herpes. Warning symptoms which indicate the virus is becoming active include itching, tingling, numbness, burning, general fatigue, flu-like symptoms, fever and swelling of the lymph nodes in the area of outbreak. Painful urination may also occur.

Herpes can be transmitted by infected persons even when they are showing no obvious symptoms of an outbreak. The HSV 1 and HSV 2 have been found to be released from skin that has no obvious open lesions or sores. Such asymptomatic viral shedding makes risk of spreading the infection possible at any time. It's possible for a person to even be unaware they have the disease in cases with mild or absent symptoms. Herpes can also be spread from mother to infant during vaginal delivery or in cases of early amniotic fluid rupture. If a mother to be is aware she has herpes she should relay that information to her doctor so appropriate precautions can be taken to protect her baby. The use of condoms

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