Do you have Genital Herpes?

One of the most common sexually transmitted disease (STD) is Genital Herpes. If you have contacted the virus which causes Genital Herpes, there are chances that you might not find out about it immediately since there are cases that infected individuals have no symptoms or mistake it for another disease. Many people can mistake Genital Herpes sores for insect bites, abrasions, or yeast infection.

Its visible symptoms are sores or blisters in the genital area, the rectum, or the thigh area. Fever and swollen lymph nodes in the neck and groin area may also occur. Genital Herpes can be diagnosed through Direct Fluorescent Antibody (DFA) test and through sampling of the sore and testing it for the virus. Genital Herpes can be diagnosed through blood test. Test results, however, are not always a hundred percent accurate.

Genital Herpes is contacted when an individual engages with someone who is infected by the virus. Virus from the open sores or blisters can enter the individual through wounds and cuts, through the genitalia, and through the mouth. Individuals infected with Genital Herpes but have no symptoms can also pass on the disease.

The first attack may occur within a two-week period after the virus is contacted. However, there are many cases where the first attacks are not severe so individuals do not immediately become aware that they have the disease until a later attack occurs or they get tested.

There is no cure for Genital Herpes as of yet. Antiviral medicine is used to treat the sores, help with the pain, and also assist in lessening the attacks. Typically, an infected individual will have four to five attacks per year. Sores usually heal from 7 to 10 days. Studies show that excessive exposure to sun, stress, and other illness which weakens the immune system can set off attacks.

The best way to prevent from contacting this STD, is to abstain from sexual contact. Safe sexual activity can also lower the risk of infection as having a committed monogamous relationship with someone who has been tested free of the disease. Not engaging in any sexual activity when there are sores and blisters will minimize disease contact – however, infection may still occur even if there are no attacks so always wear condoms to be safe.

Women with active infection may also transfer the disease to their baby during pregnancy. For precaution, women with Genital Herpes deliver through Cesarean section.

There are two kinds of therapy: episodic therapy and suppressive therapy. Episodic therapy approach entails using treatment at first sign of the attack and continued medication for several days to quicken the attack or prevent a full-blown attack. Also, keeping the area clean and exposed to air can help to make the attack shorter.

Suppressive medication or therapy, on the other hand, involves taking antiviral medication daily to prevent attacks from happening altogether. Studies have shown that this is a safe and effective way of living with the disease. You can still have a life after Genital Herpes.

Chickenpox is a viral disease caused by the infection of a virus known as the varicella zoster virus or the herpes zoster. This illness is acquired normally at a young age, though there are still adults who get infected by this disease. It is characterized by painful skin rash with blisters on a limited area of a person’s body. After a person recovers from the chickenpox, the virus will stay on the body, in the nerve cells, and become dormant. It can be reactivated, causing another disease called shingles.

This happens very rarely, but it is known for a fact that immunodeficient individuals can reactivate the herpes zoster. Chickenpox is rarely-fatal, but it is worse on adults than it is on the children. Individuals with a suppressed immune system, such as pregnant women, are very susceptible to serious complications. Symptoms of chickenpox include headache, fever and malaise.

These symptoms are not enough to assess that a person has a chickenpox. If the individual shows these symptoms, and then had feels sensations of burning pain, itching, hyperesthesia (an abnormal increase of sensitivity of the senses through stimuli) or paresthesia (the condition of being sensitive to heat, cold, light or touch), then it won’t be long before the individual will have rashes on his or her body.

This would complete the symptoms and you can now properly assume that that person has chickenpox. After that, the rashes will start to form small blisters. These blisters will start to darken, as it is filled with blood. Afterwards, it forms a crust. When the crust falls off, as it usually does, the skin heals and the person is free from chickenpox, for now.

The crust forms within 7-10 days, so it will be long before a person can recover from chickenpox. Herpes zoster may add different symptoms, depending on the part of the body involved. If it gets to the eyes, the person gets the condition known as herpes zoster opthalmicus. Symptoms of this include keratitis, uveitis and optic nerve palsies. This could lead to loss of vision, or in other words, blinding. Herpes zoster oticus however, infects the ear. This may be the case if the person has hearing loss and rotational dizziness.

If the rashes appear, doctors only need to see the rashes to tell that a person has chickenpox. But if the rashes do not appear, laboratory tests will be used to diagnose the person. To treat herpes zoster, there is a need to limit the severity and duration of pain, reduce complications and shorten the event of shingles in the body. To do this, a person needs antiviral drugs to weaken the ability of the varicella zoster virus.

The standard treatment presently uses aciclovir, though the newly developed valaciclovir and famciclovir have proven to be more powerful and safer. Antiviral treatment is prescribed for use of immunodeficient individuals and it is more preferable to give the treatment 72 hours after the rashes appeared.

To prevent varicella zoster virus from infecting, a vaccine was created, known as the Zostavax. With these, a person gains antibodies to protect them from the virus, thus preventing chickenpox and shingle.