HSV Virus
Genital herpes is the most common sexually transmitted disease worldwide and it is worth learning more about it to prevent us from getting infected. Genital Herpes is a disease that is caused by the viral infection of the herpes simplex 1 virus. It is a disease that causes blisters and sores in the genital area but visible causes are not seen. This disease is transmitted sexually. Sexual contact with a person who has been infected is the reason for it transferring to another person. The hard thing about it is, a person who is infected may not show symptoms and the infected person may not know about it.
The virus that causes this disease is the HSV virus or the herpes simplex virus. This is caused by a double stranded DNA virus. In the worst cases, it can even affect the brain called herpes simplex encephalitis.
There are two types of HSV virus, the HSV-1 and HSV-2. HSV-1 is generally associated with orofacial infections and HSV-2 with genital infections. This is generally true but they can spread throughout the whole body as well. The two viruses differ however in the areas they infect. The infection of HSV-1 is more abundant on the orofacial region and the HSV-2 occurs more in the genitals. HSV-1 is easily to acquire than HSV-2.
Here are some various ways in which both HSV viruses are able to manifest themselves in an infected person.
The orofacial infections appear in the person’s lips and the nose’s surrounding areas. The skin will be feeling very irritated. There will be sore clusters that are fluid filled blisters. The sores will look like a pimple, insect bite or a large chicken pox lesion. They also appear to be wet or dry on sometimes. The lesions will heal without scarring.
When genital infections occur the infection appears in different places for men and women. On men genital herpes appears on the penis’ shaft, inner thigh, anus, buttocks or the genital region. In women the lesions appear on the labia, clitoris, vulva, pubis anus or buttocks.
The appearance and the experience of herpes outbreaks vary from person to person. The lesions near the genitals will look only like cold sores. The outbreak will look like chafing, paper cuts or yeast infections. There will be aches and pains in the area, discharges from the vagina or the penis, and discomfort when urinating are all part of the symptoms of HSV infections.