Herpes is caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV).

There are two types:

Type I generally is found on the the lips

Type II is found more often on the genitalia, but the two viruses can easily infect any mucous membranes.


Herpes can be passed pretty easily, depending on how good your health is.

The easiest way to get it is by intimate skin contact between the affected partner\'s skin and your own bare skin.

Thus, oral contact of any type can transmit it:

• kissing
• oral sex
• oral anal contact
• Any time there is direct skin contact with an open sore, there is a chance of infection.

Transmission can also occur by secondary contact.

This is pretty hard to do, though.

Sometimes people with sores on their genitals can spread the disease with their hand to their eyes or mouth by autoinnoculation.

Hand-washing is thus important if you have herpes.

Finally, some people who have herpes can pass it on even if you can\'t see any sores.

The best way to find out if your sex partner has it is to ask them!

Herpes is pretty common. When it\'s found around the lips, it\'s called cold sores.

They can also occur on:

• the perineum
• the anus
• penis
• vagina
• and eyes

These are the most common places.

However, it can happen almost anywhere on your body if the infection is spread there.

If you have a herpes outbreak on your hand, for example, it is probably because you had a cut on your hand that came into direct contact with some herpes sores. On the hands, it\'s called \"herpetic whitlow.\"

Outbreaks of herpes can occur several times a year, brought on by:

• stress
• sunlight
• or sickness.

Other people find that certain foods can bring on an outbreak; some examples are:

• peanuts
• coffee
• alcohol

If you have cold sores or genital herpes, you may have noticed that they break out more when you\'ve eaten certain foods.

It\'s different for every person.

When outbreaks occur rnthere is at first a burning, itching sensation with redness in the affected area.

In a day, painful, red grape-like clusters of fluid-filled blisters appear.

In one to three weeks, these scab over and heal up, leaving a red scar that goes away with time.

Then the virus becomes latent and hides in your body until the next time it decides to come out.

In the vagina there may be some discharge.

Herpes lesions here are difficult to see if they are far inside the vagina.

However, the itching and burning sensations are present along with feelings of pressure in the genital area.

In some cases, women won\'t even know they have herpes.

In men and women, if the blisters are inside the urethra, there may be pain when you urinate.

< Herpes can be treated, but it can not be cured.

There is medication you can get to make the blistering and pain less severe, but once you get herpes, you\'ll have it forever.

It can stay latent for a long time, though. In a few people, the sores never appear again after the first time, but this is rare.

Medication can also make the sores go away faster, and make it so that you have them less times per year.

Acyclovir is the name of one drug, and it is especially important for people who get herpes outbreaks a lot.

There is also an amino acid you can buy at health food stores called \"Lysine.\"

If you take this everyday, it\'s supposed to prevent outbreaks.

Some people experience:

• fever
• swollen glands
• headaches (from a condition called \"meningitis\")
• and backaches.

This is if they have severe reactions to herpes.

Sometimes there is pain so intense that a person can\'t even sleep.

The pain can \"shoot\" down the legs or can be felt in nearby parts of the body.

People who have very very weak immune systems (like people with AIDS), can have reactions this severe, where the blisters spread all over the body and outbreak may last for months.

If there are herpes lesions on the buttocks, defecating can be really painful.

You cannot have sex if you\'re having an outbreak because it\'s very painful.

And you wouldn\'t want to risk passing the disease on to anybody else, anyway.

Herpes in women can be passed on to babies.

This is a big problem because babies have weak immune systems.

The herpes virus likes to infect cells of the nervous system, like the brain, and so babies who get it at birth often die.

It\'s very important to get prenatal care if you\'re a pregnant woman with herpes.

Also, if a pregnant woman has an outbreak near her cervix, the herpes virus can kill the fetus while it is inside her.

It has also been found that if herpes is on a woman\'s cervix, this puts her at higher risk of getting cancer there.

But really doesn\'t happen as much as it does for warts.

If cancer isn\'t watched closely and treated, it can kill.

Contact your doctor as soon as you think you may have gotten an STD the sooner you are treated, the better your chances of recovery, and it is less likely you will get complications.

Also, have your partners checked out, and stop having sex until you get better. Otherwise, you and your partners could keep passing the disease back and forth to each other.

Having an open sore makes it easier for secondary or opportunistic infections to happen. rnThis is especially true for HIV, which can easily get into your body if your skin is broken.

Also, if you have HIV and an open herpes sore, then you are more likely to transmit HIV to another person.