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Genital Herpes Article
How Can You Tell Someone Has Genital Herpes?
from:How can you tell someone has genital herpes? Do you take a good
look at the person? Do you ask and look straight in their eyes?
Do you inquire about their sex lives? Well, my answer is no,
maybe and maybe.
It may be a good idea to ask someone if they're aware of having
genital herpes. The more sexual partners a person has had in
their lives, the more likely they're to be infected by herpes.
But these methods are quite insufficient. Did you know that the
majority of people who have genital or oral herpes are not aware
of it? So how do you explain that? Simple, many oral or genital
herpes infected people just don't have any herpes symptoms,
others have some symptoms which are mild enough to confuse them
with a rash or a mosquito bite or anything that may cause,
redness, swelling, itching, burning and blisters, and some may
not even know what herpes symptoms are.
The fact that somebody doesn't have or recognize herpes symptoms
doesn't mean they don't have it. About 25% of the US population
is infected with genital herpes, with women being more affected
than men. Studies have shown that the vast majority (80%-90%) of
people who have genital herpes have not been diagnosed with the
condition.
According to a recent paper published by Carnegie Mellon
University in January 2006, most sexually active teenage girls
know almost nothing about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs),
except AIDS, until it is too late. Another 2006 study led by Dr.
Herbert Kaufman, Boyd Professor of Ophthalmology at Louisiana
State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, found
herpes virus-1 in 98 percent of healthy participants. None of
them displayed any symptoms; however they shed the herpes virus
in their saliva and tears at least once during the course of the
30-day study. Even though this study didn't target genital
herpes directly, it demonstrates that most people can be totally
unaware of carrying the virus and being infected by herpes.
Shed or shedding means that the virus is present on the skin and
ready to be transmitted. Herpes is transmitted through skin
contact 98% of the time. Studies have shown that shedding may
occur in almost 40% of HSV-2 (usually associated with genital
herpes) infected people. Asymptomatic viral shedding may last 1
to 5 days, meaning that a person can be contagious without
presenting any symptoms at the time. The average duration of
each period of viral shedding has been assessed through
laboratory studies but is just an estimate.
So how can you tell for a fact if someone has genital herpes?
The only way to know is to look at blood, PCR or swab test
results. Swab and PCR tests are very accurate when they detect
herpes. However, if a test was performed late or delivered to
the lab late, it may return a false negative result. Western
blot test, a blood test, is the most accurate test available but
may return a false negative if the person tested was first
infected within the past 3 months. So it is not easy to know if
a person has genital herpes or not.
One last consideration, herpes Simplex 1 or HSV-1 usually causes
oral herpes and cold sores and herpes simplex-2, genital herpes.
But herpes virus-1 genital herpes is becoming more and more
prevalent nowadays. It is mostly transmitted during oral sex
from a person who's having an oral herpes infection with or
without symptoms. So if getting genital herpes is a concern to
you, you should consider oral herpes as well as genital herpes
when asking a partner.
As you can see, it is very difficult to assess if a partner has
genital herpes. There are no proven products to prevent genital
herpes transmission at the moment. Some are currently undergoing
testing for FDA approval and will hopefully be marketed soon. In
the meanwhile, the best option is using a condom.
About the author:
Nathalie Foy is the author of
.com which provides great information, tips, advice and
product comparisons on medical, natural and herbal treatments
for cold sores, oral and genital herpes.
Other Genital Herpes related Articles
Coldsores Little Known Facts
Many Faces Of Herpes
Geital Herpes
Cold Sore Symptoms The Domino Effect
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