What are herpes?
Herpes is an inflammatory disorder of the skin or mucous membranes that manifests itself as small, fluid-filled vesicles that itch and burn. It usually affects the genital organs and lips.
It is a common infection, which remains in the body for life, and is spread by skin-to-skin contact with infected areas. Therefore, it is most commonly spread by kissing and sexual intercourse.
There are two types of herpes simplex virus: HSV-1 and HSV-2, which usually cause oral herpes and genital herpes respectively.
Prognosis of the disease
Herpes can be very annoying because of the itchy, burning sores they cause, but they do not pose a serious health risk and are not a serious disease.
The most characteristic feature of herpes is that it remains in the body and outbreaks appear throughout life. Thus, the first outbreak will appear about 20 days after contracting the herpes virus infection. This outbreak will last from two weeks to one month, and the sores it causes disappear. Throughout the first year, outbreaks will become more common, decreasing in frequency over time.
Herpes is most often spread by kissing through skin-to-skin contact with the affected area.
Symptoms of herpes
Although the most common symptom that alerts the patient that they may have herpes is the appearance of sores in the oral or genital area, the reality is that herpes may not cause symptoms. Thus, it is possible that the patient may contain the herpes virus but not know it, not having detected the presence of symptoms.
On the other hand, the main symptom of oral herpes are sores called fever blisters or cold sores and they usually appear on the lips or around the mouth, being less common inside the oral cavity. They remain for a few weeks and disappear, although they may reappear after some time. They are harmless for children and adults, but can be very dangerous in newborns.
As for genital herpes, it manifests as blisters on the vagina, cervix, vulva, penis, anal area or even on the buttocks and inner thighs. These blisters turn into sores and may also cause other symptoms, such as itching, burning and difficulty urinating and pain in the genital area. In some cases, there may even be swelling of the pelvis, armpits and throat; fever, headache, chills and fatigue.
Medical tests for herpes
The way to establish the diagnosis of herpes is to perform a specific test as is done with other sexually transmitted diseases. Especially if there are no symptoms, this is the indicated test, although it is unusual for the patient to be tested without symptoms.
If symptoms appear in the form of sores, the doctor may take a swab sample of the discharge from the sores to analyze it and diagnose whether it is herpes simplex, or some other STD that also causes sores, such as syphilis.
What are the causes of herpes?
The main cause of herpes is spread through contact with affected areas in people who have the virus. Most of the population contracts the virus during childhood or adolescence through kissing a family member or partner.
Anyone who is sexually active is at increased risk of contracting the herpes virus. It is important to keep in mind that herpes is transmitted both through genital sex and oral sex, and the use of condoms does not completely protect against its transmission, since there may be contact with affected areas that the condom does not cover.
Can it be prevented?
To reduce the risk of infection, it is important to know whether sexual partners are carriers of the virus. Likewise, to prevent it is also important that if the partner presents symptoms of herpes such as sores in the mouth or genital area, to avoid contact or sexual intercourse while the outbreak remains.
Treatments for herpes
The herpes virus itself cannot be cured, but the symptoms can be treated until the outbreak passes. Thus, the virus remains in the body but does not always show symptoms, but manifests some outbreaks over time.
For herpes symptoms, treatment depends on the severity of the case, which may require the application of topical or oral medications to combat the virus. When, apart from the cutaneous symptoms, it causes pain, fever and general malaise, treatment usually includes the application of topical painkillers and antiviral drugs and the administration of analgesics to relieve pain.
Which specialist treats it?
Usually it will be the dermatologist specialist who will detect the symptoms of oral herpes sores in the patient and will be able to analyze the lesions. In cases of genital herpes, it may also be the gynecologist, urologist or even the andrologist who detects the virus infection.