Pharmacy on Web

Herpes

To most of the people in the world, the word “herpes” means genital herpes – the untreatable virus type that is usually transmitted through skin contact and sexual contact and also causes blisters on the genital areas. Herpes, in fact belongs to that family of virus that spreads across and can as well cause numerous conditions that affect the skin, eyes, mouth, brain and also the whole body in rare cases. Affecting almost 80 million Americans, herpes is a nagging condition that is often difficult to treat.

What is it?

Herpes is one of the most commonly affecting viral infections. It can cause oral herpes, fever blisters, genital herpes and cold sores. Although doctors say that herpes is not an unmanageable condition, but it might appear on different body parts and is characterized by blisters appearing in clusters. In some cases, some people might not show any symptoms at all.

Varied diseases caused by the viruses that belong to the Herpesveridae family and fall under the category of herpes. There are various types of herpes affecting both humans and animals. Herpesveridae causes genital and oral herpes, shingles and chickenpox, infectious mononucleosis, cytomegalovirus and some types of cancer.

Types of Herpes

The most common type of herpes is the genital herpes. This is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and is caused by Herpes Simplex Virus (HVS). This HSV virus family can lead to meningitis and mononucleosis.

There are 2 types of HSV:

i) HSV-1: It affects more than 80% of the population in United States and usually appears on one’s lips in the form of cold sores.
ii) HSV-2: It is usually found in the genital areas or sexual organs.

People affected with HSV-1 virus (cold sores or oral herpes) can infect their sex partner by performing oral sex and the HSV-2 virus can infect the mouth region during the same.

There is growing evidence of the fact that people infected with genital herpes stand greater chances of contracting HIV – the virus that is responsible for causing AIDS. Having unprotected sex can therefore be one of the greatest possible reasons for developing HIV infection. Those who have been infected with genital herpes and HIV can as well have severe outbreaks that can be difficult to treat. Pregnant women might also pass on genital herpes to their newborn child through the birth canal.

Herpes zoster is also a commonly occurring herpes type. Often known as shingles, this type of herpes is characterized by painful skin rashes with blisters within a limited area. The varicella zoster virus (VZV), also known as chicken pox, is the principal cause of Herpes zoster.

Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE) is a chronic condition that affects the brain. It is caused by the HSV outbreaks and leads to inflammation of the brain. The results can be fatal. Symptoms like altered reflexes, stiff neck, speech abnormalities and confusion are common with HSE. These infections are common in children.

Ocular Herpes Simplex, also known as Eye Herpes, affects the cornea of the eye. Recurrent infections caused due to the type-1 herpes simplex virus can cause inflammation and scarring in the eye.

Symptoms

The symptoms of herpes are usually mild that sometimes it goes unrecognized. Some people don’t have any symptoms of herpes while others might have mild symptoms. Still some others might have painful herpes attacks with the whole body involved and can last for weeks.

The symptoms of herpes are sometimes flu-like, such as aching joints, headaches, pain in legs, fever, fatigue and tiredness. Genital symptoms of herpes include sores, itching, sticky discharge from the vagina or penis and painful urination.

The sores usually begin in the form of blisters and are grouped in clusters. Eventually, these blisters break open to form ulcers.

Diagnosis

Diagnosing herpes can be difficult sometimes as it is not really possible to look at these sores and identify. Sometimes these sores also look different – they may appear as small cracks or fissures in the tissues. On the contrary, sometimes some of these might appear to be herpes, but are not herpes actually. There are some frequently used tests for diagnosing herpes:

• Blood tests: Blood tests for diagnosing herpes look for a particular antibody to the herpes virus. The body tends to develop these antibodies to fight these viruses. The latest blood tests are accurate and you can get the best results.
• Swab or culture of the sore: Although a method of diagnosis, but it often produces false negative results. The results derived are negative culture when a person actually has herpes.
• Polymerase chain reaction (PCR): This is also a culture having higher sensitivity. It is four times more sensitive than the traditional culture and is also expensive.

Treatment and Prevention

Although herpes cannot be treated, there are some medications that can significantly lessen the duration and the frequency of herpes outbreaks. However, these medications can have very few side effects.

There are two prescribed and approved medications for treating herpes:

•  Acyclovir (Zovirax): One of the oldest medicines for treating herpes. It is cheap and generic.
• Valacyclovir (Valtrex): 1000mg THREE times daily for 7 days.

Some over-the-counter medications are also available for treating herpes. The most frequently used medicine today is Zovirax cream for cold sore treatment and the amino acid L-lysine which is available in natural coldsore remedy such as Nutralife Lysine, Thompsons Lysine lip clear coldsore formula and blackmores lysine. Currently, Compeed Cold sore patch has taken the world by storm with their innovative technology plus it is cosmetically suited for women.  

A new vaccine is now being tested for herpes. This will help in preventing herpes to a great extent. However, people who have already acquired herpes cannot be helped. Herpes can be prevented by maintaining hygiene and by having protected sex.