Last Updated on July 29, 2021 by Stacy Sampson, DO
Herpes (HSV1 & HSV2) STI/STD Brief
These briefs are intended to give readers (specifically those who weren’t aware many of these STIs/STDs existed) an overview of each STI/STD, their commonality, treatment options, and diagnostic tests available.
This information is by no means all-encompassing and The STI Project encourages using these briefs as primers and then further delving into the resources section when subsequent questions arise.
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Herpes Symptoms, Test & Treatment
Common? Quite common – About 8 of every 10 adults has oral herpes and 1 of every 4 adults has genital herpes (Both forms of herpes can infect the oral area, the genital area, or both. When an infection is near the mouth, it is called oral herpes and when an infection is near the genitals it is called genital herpes.) Around 750,000 to 1 million people contract it in the U.S. annually
Symptoms Most people with genital herpes have no symptoms, have very mild symptoms that go unnoticed, or have symptoms but do not recognize them as a sign of infection. The most common herpes symptom is a cluster of blistery sores — usually on the vagina, vulva, cervix, penis, buttocks, or anus. Symptoms may last several weeks and go away. They may return in weeks, months, or years.
Cure? No cure – managed with medicine
Bacterial/Viral/ Fungal/Parasitic Viral
Test Sores examined and fluids from the sores tested, Blood test
Life-Long? Yes
Life-Threatening? No, however – though rare, contact with herpes sores during delivery can lead to a severe, life-threatening infection for the baby. Also, people with genital herpes have at least twice the risk of getting HIV if exposed to it than people without herpes
- How to Not Give an Eff about Having an STI
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- Think You Might Have an STI/STD?
- Herpes In-Depth
- Detailed Herpes Symptoms
- Pictures of Herpes
- Looking for more information about herpes?
- Looking for STI testing centers, herpes treatment, STI hotlines, or STI blogs and forums?
- Would you like to read stories about people living with an STI/STD?
References
- Symptoms
- Armangue, Thaís, et al. “Frequency, symptoms, risk factors, and outcomes of autoimmune encephalitis after herpes simplex encephalitis: a prospective observational study and retrospective analysis.” The Lancet Neurology 17.9 (2018): 760-772.
- Groves, Mary Jo. “Genital herpes: a review.” Am Fam Physician 93.11 (2016): 928-934.
- Jonker, Iris, et al. “The association between herpes virus infections and functional somatic symptoms in a general population of adolescents. The TRAILS study.” PloS one 12.10 (2017): e0185608.
- Verhoeven, Dirk HJ, et al. “Reactivation of human herpes virus-6 after pediatric stem cell transplantation: risk factors, onset, clinical symptoms and association with severity of acute graft-versus-host disease.” The Pediatric infectious disease journal 34.10 (2015): 1118-1127.
- Croll, Benjamin J., et al. “MRI diagnosis of herpes simplex encephalitis in an elderly man with nonspecific symptoms.” Radiology case reports 12.1 (2017): 159-160.
- Testing
- Tan, S. K., and B. A. Pinsky. “Molecular Testing for Herpes Viruses.” Diagnostic Molecular Pathology. Academic Press, 2017. 89-101.
- Piret, Jocelyne, Nathalie Goyette, and Guy Boivin. “Novel method based on real-time cell analysis for drug susceptibility testing of herpes simplex virus and human cytomegalovirus.” Journal of clinical microbiology 54.8 (2016): 2120-2127.
- Hauser, Ronald G., et al. “Reply to Galen,“Screening cerebrospinal fluid prior to herpes simplex virus pcr testing might miss cases of herpes simplex encephalitis”.” Journal of clinical microbiology 55.10 (2017): 3144.
- Hauser, Ronald G., et al. “Cost-effectiveness study of criteria for screening cerebrospinal fluid to determine the need for herpes simplex virus PCR testing.” Journal of clinical microbiology 55.5 (2017): 1566-1575.
- Bohn-Wippert, Kathrin, et al. “Resistance testing of clinical herpes simplex virus type 2 isolates collected over 4 decades.” International Journal of Medical Microbiology 305.7 (2015): 644-651.
- Treatment
- Wilhelmus, Kirk R. “Antiviral treatment and other therapeutic interventions for herpes simplex virus epithelial keratitis.” Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 1 (2015).
- James, Scott H., and David W. Kimberlin. “Neonatal herpes simplex virus infection: epidemiology and treatment.” Clinics in perinatology 42.1 (2015): 47-59.
- Jeon, Young Hoon. “Herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia: practical consideration for prevention and treatment.” The Korean journal of pain 28.3 (2015): 177.
- Eppink ST, Kumar S, Miele K, Chesson H. Lifetime medical costs of genital herpes in the United States: Estimates from insurance claims. Sex Transm Dis. (2021).
- Breier, Alan, et al. “Herpes simplex virus 1 infection and valacyclovir treatment in schizophrenia: Results from the VISTA study.” Schizophrenia research (2018).
- Varanasi, Siva Karthik, et al. “Azacytidine treatment inhibits the progression of herpes stromal keratitis by enhancing regulatory T cell function.” Journal of virology 91.7 (2017): e02367-16.
- Prevention
- Abdool Karim, Salim S., et al. “Tenofovir gel for the prevention of herpes simplex virus type 2 infection.” New England Journal of Medicine 373.6 (2015): 530-539.
- Jeon, Young Hoon. “Herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia: practical consideration for prevention and treatment.” The Korean journal of pain 28.3 (2015): 177.
- Marrazzo, Jeanne M., et al. “Tenofovir Gel for Prevention of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Acquisition: Findings From the VOICE Trial.” The Journal of infectious diseases (2019).
- Chi, Ching‐Chi, et al. “Interventions for prevention of herpes simplex labialis (cold sores on the lips).” Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 8 (2015).
- Colombel, Jean-Frédéric. “Herpes zoster in patients receiving JAK inhibitors for ulcerative colitis: mechanism, epidemiology, management, and prevention.” Inflammatory bowel diseases 24.10 (2018): 2173-2182.
- Transmission
- Oevermann, Lena, et al. “Transmission of chromosomally integrated human herpes virus-6A via haploidentical stem cell transplantation poses a risk for virus reactivation and associated complications.” Bone marrow transplantation (2019): 1.
- Tronstein E, Johnston C, Huang ML, Selke S, Magaret A, Warren T, Corey L, Wald A. Genital shedding of herpes simplex virus among symptomatic and asymptomatic persons with HSV-2 infection. JAMA. (2011).
- Pandey, Utsav, et al. “Inferred father-to-son transmission of herpes simplex virus results in near-perfect preservation of viral genome identity and in vivo phenotypes.” Scientific reports 7.1 (2017): 13666.
- Ramchandani M, Selke S, Magaret A, Barnum G, Huang MW, Corey L, Wald A. Prospective cohort study showing persistent HSV-2 shedding in women with genital herpes 2 years after acquisition. Sex Transm Infect. (2018).
- Ceña-Diez, Rafael, et al. “Prevention of vaginal and rectal herpes simplex virus type 2 transmission in mice: Mechanism of antiviral action.” International journal of nanomedicine 11 (2016): 2147.
- Omori, Ryosuke, and Laith J. Abu-Raddad. “Sexual network drivers of HIV and herpes simplex virus type 2 transmission.” AIDS (London, England) 31.12 (2017): 1721.
- Aebi-Popp, Karoline, et al. “High prevalence of herpes simplex virus (HSV)-type 2 co-infection among HIV-positive women in Ukraine, but no increased HIV mother-to-child transmission risk.” BMC pregnancy and childbirth 16.1 (2016): 94.
herpes treatment
This is a very insightful information. Some patients are not aware of this information. Some would think it is bacterial, but it is viral.
Jenelle Marie
Yes, that herpes is viral is also why it is not curable. Our bodies can combat some viruses, but unfortunately, hsv is not one of them.