What is genital herpes?

Some facts about anti-herpes treating

Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the herpes simplex viruses type 1 or type 2. Most genital herpes is caused by herpes simplex virus type 2. Most individuals have no or only minimal signs or symptoms from herpes simplex virus type 1 or herpes simplex virus type 2 infection. When signs do happen, they typically show up as one or more wheals on or around the rectum or genitals. The wheals break, leaving tender ulcers (crusties) that may take two to four weeks to heal the first time they happen. Typically, another outbreak can appear months or weeks after the first, but it almost always is less severe and shorter than the first outbreak. Although the herpes can stay in the body indefinitely, the number of outbreaks tends to decrease over a period of years.

How common is genital herpes?

Results of the USA nationally representative study show that genital herpes infection is common in the United States. Countrywide about one out of six (precisely 16.2%), people from 15 to 50 years of age have genital herpes simplex virus type 2 infection. Over the past decade, the percentage of Americans with genital herpes infection in the USA has remained stable.
Genital herpes simplex virus type 2 infection is more common in women (approximately one out of five women 15 to 50 years of age) than in men (about one out of nine men 15 to 50 years of age). Transmission from an infected male to his female partner is more likely than from an infected female to her male partner.

How do people get genital herpes?

Herpes simplex virus type 1 and herpes simplex virus type 2 can be found in tests and released from the sores that the viruses cause, but they also are released between flare-up from skin that does not appear to have a sore. Generally, a person can only get herpes simplex virus type 2 infection during sexual contact with someone who has a genital herpes simplex virus type 2 infection. Transmission can occur from an infected sexual partner who does not have a visible sore and may not know that he or she is infected.
Herpes simplex virus type 1 can cause genital herpes, but it more commonly causes infections of the mouth and lips, so-called "fever wheals." Herpes simplex virus type 1 infection of the genitals can be caused by oral-genital or genital-genital contact with a person who has herpes simplex virus type 1 infection. Genital herpes simplex virus type 1 outbreaks recur less regularly than genital herpes simplex virus type 2 outbreaks.

What are the signs and symptoms of genital herpes?

Most people infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 are not aware of their infection. However, if signs and symptoms occur during the first outburst, they can be quite pronounced. The first outbreak usually occurs within two weeks after the virus is transmitted, and the sores generally heal within from two to four weeks. Other signs and symptoms during the primary episode may include a second crop of sores, and symptoms like flu, including fever and swollen glands. However, most individuals with herpes simplex virus type 2 infection never have sores, or they have very mild signs that they do not even notice or that they make mistake for insect bites or another skin condition.
People diagnosed with a first episode of genital herpes can expect to have several (generally four or five) outbreaks (symptomatic recurrences) within a year. Over time these recurrences usually decrease in frequency. It is possible that a person becomes aware of the “first episode” years after the infection is acquired.