What are the symptoms of herpes? Part I - HSV1

We go on discussing oral herpes, still leaving genital herpes issues until later.

So, what are the symptoms of herpes? How can one know that he or she is infected?

Most of the time, the herpes virus shows no signs of its presence in the human body, although after it gets in, it never leaves the system. When the virus is inactive, or dormant, you may observe no symptoms of the disease (all the more, you observe no such symptoms if you are not infected!). But then, all of a sudden, you may feel some itching in the areas where the skin is particularly thin and delicate, especially close to mucous membranes, or right on mucous membranes. In case of oral herpes, these areas are placed mainly on the lips and around or inside the mouth. Very soon, the itching grows stronger until you feel some hardening of tissue under the skin, like tiny lumps. During several hours, these lumps spring out onto the surface, forming sores surrounded by inflamed skin. The sores are filled with clear or whitish liquid which tends to ooze as soon as the sore is damaged. The more severe infection you get, the more sores may appear. They may even come in clusters, making the skin around them swell a bit.

After a day or two days, the sores begin to dry out a little, getting covered with scabs. They are still filled with clear liquid, although the liquid can contain some traces of blood as the capillaries are damaged in the adjoining areas of skin. However, drying of the tips of the sores can be considered the first sign of the beginning of the process of healing which normally takes from 3 to 14 days.

How do you get herpes? Part II - An "innocent childhood infection," or an STD?

We have found this on the Web, too, and it seems to be a proper thing to quote on this blog as well:

Isn't it funny how "diseases" are defined by how they are aquired ONLY in the case of those sexually transmitted?

HSV1 (more commonly known as the cold sore virus) becomes an STD ONLY if one is infected with it genitally. (Meaning that one managed to be extra cautious or lucky, and avoided getting cold sores for their entire life - which made them susceptible to getting type 1 genitally as an adult. How ironic.)

Another thing that bugs me - why does it suddenly become a "disease" once transmitted genitally? I have never heard anyone refer to someone with cold sores as having a disease. And cold sores are the same exact virus, but recur much more frequently and are way more contageous than is someone with an HSV1 genital infection.

So why is it being defined simply on how it was transmitted, but only when it was done so sexually? When orally transmitted, we don't call it a KTD (kissing transmitted disease.) I know a small number of people also get it orally from sharing forks and cups and whatnot, but the majority get it from kissing, even if it's an aunt's innocent peck.

We don't call malaria or lyme disease ITDs (insect transmitted disease) or typhoid fever a FTD (feces transmitted disease.)

But we do need to forever label those who happened to aquire a common infection during, god forbid, a sexual scenario - no matter how "innocent" that scenario was, including between husband and wife?

I'm not buying into it.

We aren't either.

The history of herpes

As for the history of herpers, there is an interesting article circulating on the web. Perhaps, we should better quote it as it is:

The herpes virus has been around for a very long time, documented by the ancient Greeks as sores that seemed to 'creep' over the surface of the skin. In fact, the term "herpes" is derived from the Greek word meaning "to creep".

It is also evident that two thousand years ago, Roman Emperor Tiberius attempted to curb an epidemic of herpes labialis (mouth herpes) by outlawing kissing during public ceremonies and rituals.

The term herpes simplex was introduced in 1906 and included herpes labialis (cold sores, HSV1) and herpes progenitalis (genital herpes, HSV2) in the belief that both disorders were the same disease affecting different anatomic sites. Vidal (1873) first demonstrated herpes simplex to be infections caused by human inoculation.

The origin of herpes in human history is unknown. HSV1 has probably been around as long as anyone could diagnose the distinctive fever blisters.

Studies of the elderly in Europe and the United States have shown that 90% have been exposed to the virus. The spread of HSV1 has declined with the understanding that the herpetic sores shed the virus and that these can be spread with just a kiss. HSV2 is primarily passed on by sexual contact between humans.

Herpetic whitlow is a herpes infection in the fingers which occurred in dental personnel before the era of mandatory glove use. Like herpetic lesions elsewhere on the body, the herpes outbreaks are often painful and at times disabling.

The herpes virus is related to viruses that cause chicken pox, shingles, infectious mononucleosis and Epstein-Barr. The Epstein-Barr Virus was discovered in 1964 by M. Anthony Epstein and co-workers in Burkitt's lymphoma cells. However, it wasn't until 1968 that Gertrude and Werner Henle discovered it was actually a herpes virus and, after one of their lab technicians came down with mononucleosis, discovered its link with the herpes simplex virus.

How long does a herpes outbreak last?

How long does a herpes outbreak last? In both cases of oral (HSV1) and genital (HSV2) herpes, it mainly depends on two factors. First, if it is primary of recurrent herpes. Second, it is the matter of individual response.

Symptopms of primary herpes, that is when an individual is first infected with the herpes virus and exhibits the signs of it, usually last longer than the subsequent recurrent outbreaks. The initial outbreak is also more severe and painful. It is because the person's immune system meets the new danger for the first time, and needs time to adjust itself to it. It takes 10 to 14 or more days to heal the sores and blisters caused by the primary herpes outbreak and drive the virus into inactive (dormant) state. There are reports that in women, the primary outbreak tends to last longer than in men (up to 21 days).

After that first victory, the person's immune system gets the proper knowledge of the new threat. Forewarned is forearmed. Next time, when the herpes virus comes out of dormancy, it will usually be supressed during a shorter period of 3 to 14 days.

Why is that range, from 3 to 14 or even more days? That is just the matter of individual response. Some people have a stronger immune system, in other people it is weaker. Also, a person's general state of health plays its role. If a person's condition is weakened by some other illness or any sort of hard exposure, it will take the person's system longer to fight herpes. In most severe cases, untreated outbreaks of herpes can last up to 6 weeks.

How do you get herpes? Part I - HSV1

Both types of herpes spread by person-to-person contact. However, there are some peculiarities in cases of HSV1 and HSV2 types of infection. Today, we shall discuss herpes simplex type 1 (or the so called oral herpes) transmission.

When they speak of catching herpes, they sometimes say of skin-to-skin contact with a person who carries the virus. In a way, this wording is correct, but it may mislead you. When you hear of 'skin', you may not think of lips or fingers. However, kissing and touching are the major causes which favor transmission of the herper virus. And it does not matter who touches whom. If an infected person does nothing to you, but you will touch his or her cold sore, you are likely to be infected yourself.

Most people get HSV1 in childhood from their parents, grandparents, relatives and friends of the family. Simple pinching a baby's cheek by an infected adult can embed the virus into the baby's body where it will stay forever. Yes, forever, and there's is no cure for that. Most of the time, the virus will be dormant, and there will be no signs of its presence in the body (i.e., the notorious cold sores on the lips and around the mouth), but it will never leave the system. If someone infected with HSV1 does not have any sores or blisters, it only means that the virus goes on living in the person's nerve cells, waiting for its chance to have an outbreak during which it will rush into the skin cells and cause the sores.

Unfortunately, one does not have to have sores to transmit the herpes virus. Though outbreaks of herpes sores make transmission more likely, lots of people get HSV1 from infected persons who have no sores at all! Doctors call this "asymptomatic viral shedding", that is when there are no visible signs of the infection, no symptoms of the disease, but still, the infection takes place. Moreover, a direct contact between people is not necessary to spread herpes simplex. A person can get HSV1 even by sharing eating utensils or towels, etc with an infected person. Of course, it does not mean that everyone gets infected for sure if he or she has any sort of contact with an infected person, but it means that the risk always exists. Many people carry herpes without showing any signs of it and spread the virus unintentionally and without knowing of that, just because they live with it. That makes herpes a very common viral infection, and, to say the truth, we have very poor chance of avoiding it somehow.

The only consolation is the fact that in the overwhelming majority of cases, simple oral herpes is not a fatal disease. It is just unpleasant.