Health-Tips-And-Info

by John Bear

Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease (STD). It is very common–more than 50 million Americans have genital herpes virus. It is an infection caused by the herpes simplex virus. There are two types of herpes simplex viruses that can cause herpes. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) primarily causes oral herpes (cold sores). Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) primarily causes genital herpes. Both types are nasty - you do not want to catch either variety.

Even though HSV-1 causes the majority of oral herpes cases and HSV-2 causes the majority of genital herpes cases, both of these viruses can cause oral herpes, genital herpes, or both.

Once a person gets the genital herpes virus, it stays in their body for life.

What occurs if and when someone has an outbreak of the genital herpes virus?

With recurrent genital herpes, symptoms can soon come and go. When the herpes virus symptoms appear from time to time, it is called a “herpes outbreak.” Between outbreaks, when the virus is not present on the skin surface, the herpes virus is inactive and when reactivated, it travels to the skin in the genital area. An outbreak usually begins with a warning prodrome. Then, redness, bumps, and blisters may appear. The blisters can burst open and cause sores. There may be just one red, itchy blister or several.

What is a prodrome?

A prodrome is the first stage of an outbreak when you feel symptoms such as pain, burning, itching, tingling, or tenderness. Remember, this is the time to start treatment if you are treating episodically.

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by Elizabeth Campbell

This is an infection as old as the world is. Although it has been known by the humanity for hundreds of years, it still is present in peoples’lives, unfortunately. Ignorance as well as indifference has lead to the persistency of this venereal disease.

Syphilis infection is caused by a bacterium known as treponema palladium spirochete. This is a dreadful infection whose primary route of transmission is through sexual contact. Direct contact with the lesions caused by infection is the foremost reason.

It can also be transmitted through other ways. Direct contact between a healthy individual and an infected individual’s saliva will get the healthy person to contracting the disease. Any contact with any other body fluids such as seminal liquid, vaginal secretions of an infected individual will definitely lead to infection.

There are other non-sexual ways of spreading the disease, which could be through kissing, biting, or being in direct contact with instruments or things used by an infected person. Be that as it may, sexual contact is sill the major means of transferring the infection. Figures show that the possibility of getting the disease after sexual contact with a person with the disease is a high 30-50%. Just a touch will be enough to spread the disease.

Syphilis normally starts off unnoticeably and then it progresses really slowly but definitely. If not attended to at its early stage, this extremely cruel disease could have terrible endings. At present, no transfusion can be done before all the blood and blood products have undergone rigid testing so that the risk of infection caused by blood transfusion should be nil. However, being over zealous about the test results will not hurt anyone.

Another means of infection transmission is from the mother to the newborn baby. If the pregnant woman is infected, then she could infect her baby. This is called congenital transmission.

The symptoms of this disease come in stages and appear in various ways depending on the length of time that has elapsed from the first exposure to the bacteria. There are various phases in its evolution and it progresses unfavourably along the years.

The incubation period of the bacteria, which is the period following the exposure to the infection, does not present any clinical nor biological symptoms usually. The incubation period can last up to ninety days in case of syphilitic infection.

The secondary phase leads to the disappearance of the initial phase symptoms, and it can last up to two years. During this period, the bacteria affects all the fluids of the human body, including blood, vaginal secretions, seminal liquid, saliva, etc, and the infected individual is highly contagious for the other around.

To determine if the person is infected or not, a blood test has to be conducted and this could also aid in tracing the bacteria. Finally, a microscopic analysis of the fluid from the primary or secondary lesions can diagnose the disease accurately.

Syphilis can be cured as long as the treatment starts right after the exposure. Antibiotics are usually recommended but if the treatment starts when the disease has evolved, there may be permanent damage to the affected organs.

About the Author:

Concerned about stds, std symptoms or std treatment? STD Information is a massive resource for all kinds of information on all sexually transmitted diseases, such as Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Herpes, Syphilis, Hepatitis, HIV and Aids. Learn more.

by Elizabeth Campbell

As we all know, genital herpes is a very widely spread disease of the genital area. Infection caused by it is messy and highly contagious. It affects both women and men, and it is transmitted usually through sexual contact, as well as through other ways.

It can be contracted from touching contaminated items like towels, underwear and toilet seats. One can also get it through kissing and in rare cases through oral sex.

It can be transmitted like that because these particular types of viruses can survive outside their natural environments, even for whole minutes, so be careful what is it that you touch, try on, or when you use public restrooms!

A large number of the infected individuals do not show any indications of the infection at all, which makes it doubly dangerous. The person unknowingly becomes a living and breathing carrier of the disease, infecting everyone that he comes in contact with. This is how a large number of people get the disease year after year. It is either the person ignores the symptoms or none appear at all.

The virus could develop within three to seven days after exposure. The first attack of the infection could be grievous with extended incubation period; but then there could also be no apparent signs of the disease, depending on the general condition of the individual’s immune system.

Manifestations of genital herpes appear in the genital area, which start with small red bumps that progress into watery blisters, then develop further into open sores. When scratched, the sores could burst open and secrete blood and pus. Before all these, the person will first feel a burning and itching sensation.

Two to four days after, the watery blisters will burst and develop into open raw wounds, which can become bigger and the boil covered with crusts can take up large areas of the skin.

As previously discussed, genital herpes affects men and women alike, no matter what style of sexual activity they opt to pursue. People engaging in anal sex would most likely develop anal lesions. For women, if the virus develops in the urethra, then she will go through severe pain. She will constantly experience stinging and burning feelings until her condition is treated.

A few of the symptoms of the infection are colds, fever, and headache. The sores could sometimes also spread to the upper thigh, hip and buttocks. Antiviral medications could be taken to control the recurrence of the virus and to clear up the sores.

Unfortunately, until present days, the specialists could not develop a treatment to prevent the latency state of the virus. Also there is no such remedy for permanent removal of the virus from the human organism. The virus can only be controlled.

Prolonged treatment successfully reduces the rate of recurrence of the infection of genital herpes and in clearing the sores caused by the infection. Continuous intake of the antiviral medication for at least fourteen days is normally prescribed, and if the sores still do not get completely healed, medication should be continued for seven days more.

What really counts is seeing a doctor in the matter and not leaving the condition unattended, and, most important thing of all, protection for preventing the contamination.

About the Author:

Worried about stds, std symptoms or std treatment? STD Information is a massive resource for all kinds of information on all sexually transmitted diseases, including Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Herpes, Syphilis, Hepatitis, HIV and Aids. Learn more.

by Elizabeth Campbell

As we all know, genital herpes is a very widely spread disease of the genital area. Infection caused by it is messy and highly contagious. It affects both women and men, and it is transmitted usually through sexual contact, as well as through other ways.

It can be transmitted through direct contact with contaminated items, like towels, panties,and toilet seats. It can also be transmitted through kissing and in rare cases through oral sexual contact.

This is such because the herpes simplex virus can survive outside the human body for several minutes, so extra caution should be exercised when using public facilities, such as restrooms.

Many of the individuals who carry the disease present no symptoms at all. That is highly dangerous because it cannot warn the healthy individuals about its existence. A large number of people get infected every year, because they ignore the symptoms or because they do not present any.

Development period of the virus is from three to seven days from time of exposure. Generally, the first outbreak would be severe and would have extended development period; on the other hand, there could be no obvious indications of the infection, depending on the level response of the person’s immune system.

Manifestations of genital herpes appear in the genital area, which start with small red bumps that progress into watery blisters, then develop further into open sores. When scratched, the sores could burst open and secrete blood and pus. Before all these, the person will first feel a burning and itching sensation.

After two to four days, the grouped blisters break and they transform into painful ulcerations. These ulcerations ca extend and the pustules covered with crusts can cover big surfaces of the skin.

As we mentioned, this infection affects both women and men, no matter what type of sexual activity they develop. People who practice anal sex can get lesions at the anus level. Women however can experience a great amount of pain if the virus is located at the urethra level. Stinging and burning feelings will definitely bother the infected woman, and this condition shall need immediate treatment.

Headaches or cold, even fever, these are few of the symptoms, which can be produced by the exposure to this virus. The lesions caused by it can sometimes spread to the haunches. For treatment of the condition there are anti-viral medicines, which shorten the evolution and reduces the severity of the infection.

Unfortunately, until present days, the specialists could not develop a treatment to prevent the latency state of the virus. Also there is no such remedy for permanent removal of the virus from the human organism. The virus can only be controlled.

Prolonged treatment successfully reduces the rate of recurrence of the infection of genital herpes and in clearing the sores caused by the infection. Continuous intake of the antiviral medication for at least fourteen days is normally prescribed, and if the sores still do not get completely healed, medication should be continued for seven days more.

What really counts is seeing a doctor in the matter and not leaving the condition unattended, and, most important thing of all, protection for preventing the contamination.

About the Author:

Worried about stds, std symptoms or std treatment? STD Information is a massive resource for all kinds of information on all sexually transmitted diseases, such as Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, Herpes, Syphilis, Hepatitis, HIV and Aids. Learn more.

by Elizabeth Campbell

Everybody could be exposed to this infection every single hour. Regardless of what work we do, we can catch this disease from all sources you can imagine. This is a very communicable disease caused by a bacterium known as Treponema Palladium.

Generally, the disease can be contracted through sexual contact with a person who has the disease. On the other hand, there are other ways to get the disease. The bacteria can be transferred to a non-infected person through kissing or biting, as well as other non-sexual means. The bacteria can easily be transferred by handling infected items.

Having any form of contact with body fluids from an infected person will put the individual in the same high risk of infection. Contaminated body fluids like blood, seminal and vaginal secretions, and saliva are excellent media for bacteria transmission. Mothers can transmit the disease to their babies.

Right after exposure to the bacteria, there is nothing going on. The start of the evolution of these nasty bacteria can be discreet and the symptoms could be missing. If it is left untreated, it has a slow and painful evolution and the ending of it is ugly and dramatic.

The first indication of syphilis infection is the appearance of one skin lesion. It could be round or oblong in shape, firm and painless. Swelling of the lymph glands could also be a sign of infection. Additionally, here will be swelling in the penis, vulva, and anal area.

As the disease moves on to the secondary phase, other indications appear. There will be skin eruptions at the skin level, spreading all over the body. Small red blisters start to develop around the areas of the mouth, on the palms of the hand or on the soles of the feet. The wounds heal without treatment, but the infection continues to progress. If the patient disregards the symptoms and still not undergo treatment, the infection will slowly but surely proceed to the latent phase of the disease.

In syphilis infection even when the indications for primary and secondary infection disappear even without undergoing treatment, it does not mean that the disease has been cured. The bacteria are inside the body and continuously evolving towards the next phase. The growth period can last up to 90 days and all this time there could be no noticeable symptoms. The primary and secondary phase of syphilis could be considered the “easy” stages compared to what the patient will go through as the infection enters the latent stage.

The latent stage of the disease can last for several years, still without any signs or symptoms. The “late stage” of the syphilis is set off five to twenty five years after the first exposure whether it was acquired through sexual contact or by other means. At this stage, the pathogen will wreak havoc on the body and signs of damage will now appear. The internal organs, heart, bones, brain, actually the entire body can be affected.

About the Author:

Worried about stds, std symptoms or std treatment? STD Information is a huge resource for all kinds of information on all sexually transmitted diseases, including Herpes, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Chlamydia, Hepatitis, HIV and Aids. Visit us now.