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Causes and clinical symptoms of herpes

Causes and clinical symptoms of herpes

Herpes can attack everyone including children. If people catch Herpes at a young age, they will have to carry the virus for the rest of their lives, unless treated properly. There is a higher risk of a healthy person catching Herpes if he/she is associated with an infected person who is experiencing outbreaks.

Performing oral sex with someone who has cold sores may result in Genital Herpes. This may happen if you start performing sexual activities at a very fair age or if you have more than one sexual partner. Genital Herpes is very likely to occur in women, especially with a weak immune system. Besides, if you are already suffering from a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD), you may have a chance of developing Herpes.

During childbirth, if a pregnant woman is experiencing an outbreak, her child will automatically be exposed to both types of HSV. This will increase the life challenging situations in the baby. Statistically, 20% of the adults who are sexually active carry HSV 2 in the US. It is also possible for you to develop this infection if you are associated with an infected person who does not have a “sore”.

Once a person gets infected with HSV, its removal is a bit debatable. It is said that after the virus has entered your body, it gradually moves from the skin cells to the nerve cells where it stays dormant forever. However, a few activities or experiences can wake the virus up, such as severe illness, menstrual bleeding, stress, sun exposure, surgery etc. and trigger an infection all over again.

Symptoms which may indicate Herpes:

Herpes symptoms can be observed in some people, while there can be no signs or symptoms in others. Most of the people suffer from Herpes without realizing or feeling any different. However, normally symptoms of Herpes may include single blisters or multiple blisters around the affected region, usually around the mouth, genitals, and rectum. After some days, the blister breaks and leaves a spot or a tender sore.

Often people confuse the symptoms of Herpes with some other skin conditions. This is why they fail to understand their signs of having the infection.

  • The first major sign which you should be careful about is the growth of multiple blisters around the affected area.
  • Next sign is the “outbreak”. Once the outbreak takes place, it will leave a terribly painful sore. This may take you weeks to heal properly. During the first outbreak, some people may also suffer from a flu-like feeling such as body aches and fever. After the first outbreak, you may have a series of recurring outbreaks, especially during the first year of infection. These outbreaks will be comparatively less severe and gradually the number of outbreaks decreases. The decline in the frequency of outbreaks may vary from person to person. For some people, it tends to decrease after a year, while for others, it takes a couple of years to end.
  • Repetitive outbreaks of Genital Herpes are more common than any other outbreaks of herpes. You may also notice an unbearable pain while urinating. This is another symptom of Genital Herpes.