Herpes Simplex Virus

The Herpes simplex virus causes Genital Herpes. There are many types of Herpes viruses. Both Herpes simplex type 1 (HSV 1) and Herpes simplex type 2 (HSV 2) can infect the genital area.

Herpes simplex virus type 1

Commonly causes ‘cold sores’, these tend to occur in the upper half of the body, mainly around the lips and mouth. HSV 1 can also infect the genital area.

Herpes simplex virus type 2

HSV 2 is more commonly the cause of genital herpes but increasingly is occurring around the lips and mouth.

Healthscope Molecular Test

Healthscope Molecular tests for Herpes simplex types 1 & 2 using an in-house method called PCR, which stands for polymerase chain reaction, a biological ‘copy machine’ for making multiple copies of a specific DNA sequence.

Symptoms

If you are exposed to HSV 1 or HSV 2 during sexual or intimate skin-to-skin contact there are four possible outcomes:

1. Most of the time there will be no signs or symptoms. You will not know that you have the Herpes virus and may never experience outbreaks of Herpes blisters in your genital area. If this happens you may pass on the virus to your sexual partner without knowing.
2. The second possibility is that you will get what is called a primary episode of genital herpes. This can be painful and you may feel generally unwell. Sometimes people have fevers and pains in the joints, like they have the flu.
3. The blisters then turn into ulcers. This can involve the vaginal opening, anus or the penis and/or scrotum. It can be painful to pass urine or pass a bowel motion. In this situation it may take more than three weeks for the blisters to heal and the other discomforts to completely subside. Fortunately, there are medications available that may help to reduce these symptoms. It is worthwhile attending a sexual health or doctor’s clinic as soon as possible if you notice any blisters around the genital area.
4. Some people who are infected with the Herpes virus will not experience the level of discomfort and illness of the primary episode described above. However, from time to time, they will notice a smaller outbreak of blisters and irritation in the genital area.

Recurrent episodes

After the initial episode the virus stays in the body and can cause further episodes. Recurrences may be triggered by:

1. Stress
2. Menstruation
3. Sexual activity
4. General illness

An outbreak of Herpes usually occurs in several stages over seven to ten days.

1. A mild tingling or itching, which lasts 12 to 24 hours.
2. Small blisters form and there may be swelling and redness around the blisters. The blisters may be irritating, painful and sore to touch.
3. After a couple of days the blisters break and form shallow ulcers.
4. The glands in the groin may become swollen and tender.
5. The ulcers heal, leaving a patch of red or peeling skin for a few days.

It isn’t possible to predict how often people will have outbreaks. Some people may only ever have one outbreak and others no more than two or three. Only a minority have frequent recurrences. Generally, as the years go by the frequency of outbreaks decrease. The amount of time between each outbreak of the Herpes virus will be different for each person. In general, after the initial outbreak of blisters, each recurrence is less severe and heals more rapidly. Usually a longer period of time passes before the next outbreak.

Herpes between outbreaks

After the Herpes virus has entered the body it tracks up the sensory nerve fibres supplying the region where the infection occurred and lives in nerve cells around the spinal cord and usually lies dormant. It is not completely understood what causes the virus to reactivate, pass back down the nerve fibres and cause blisters. Some factors that may trigger an outbreak include menstruation (periods), emotional upset and sexual activity. Sunburn can trigger a Herpes episode (or cold sore) on the face or lips.

Apart from these factors, it is important to get enough sleep, have a healthy diet and to keep your stress levels at a manageable level.

Spread

Both viruses are passed from one person to another by close body contact. This means that:

1. .A cold sore on a lip could spread to the genital area of a sexual partner as a result of oral sex.
2. Genital Herpes may be passed on to the mouth of a sexual partner through oral sex, causing oral ‘cold sores’ – although this is less common.
3. Genital Herpes can be spread through the rubbing of genital skin that occurs during sexual activity.

The risk of Herpes spreading from person to person is high just before, during and for the week following an outbreak of herpes. However, the Herpes virus can be passed from person to person without any active ulcer or blister being present. This means that even when a person is free of symptoms the virus can still spread to another person, if the infected person happens to be ‘shedding’ Herpes virus at the time of sexual intercourse.