Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the herpes simplex viruses type 1 or type 2. Most genital herpes is caused by HSV-2. Most individuals have no or only minimal signs or symptoms from HSV-1 or HSV-2 infection. When signs do occur, they typically appear as one or more blisters on or around the genitals or rectum.
The blisters break, leaving tender ulcers that may take two to four weeks to heal the first time they occur. Typically, another outbreak can appear weeks or months after the first, but it almost always is less severe and shorter than the first outbreak. Although the infection can stay in the body indefinitely, the number of outbreaks tends to decrease over a period of years.
Results of a nationally representative study show that genital herpes infection is common in the United States. Over the past decade, the percentage of Americans with genital herpes infection in the U.S. has remained stable. Genital HSV-2 infection is more common in women than in men. Transmission from an infected male to his female partner is more likely than from an infected female to her male partner.
HSV-1 and HSV-2 can be found in and released from the sores that the viruses cause, but they also are released between outbreaks from skin that does not appear to have a sore. Generally, a person can only get HSV-2 infection during sexual contact with someone who has a genital HSV-2 infection. Transmission can occur from an infected partner who does not have a visible sore and may not know that he or she is infected.
Most people infected with HSV-2 are not aware of their infection. If signs and symptoms occur during the first outbreak, they can be quite pronounced. The first outbreak usually occurs within two weeks after the virus is transmitted, and the sores typically heal within two to four weeks. Other signs and symptoms during the primary episode may include a second crop of sores, and flu-like symptoms, including fever and swollen glands.
However, most individuals with HSV-2 infection never have sores, or they have very mild signs that they do not even notice or that they mistake for insect bites or another skin condition. People diagnosed with a first episode of genital herpes can expect to have several outbreaks within a year. Over time these recurrences usually decrease in frequency. It is possible that a person becomes aware of the first episode years after the infection is acquired.
Genital herpes can cause recurrent painful sores, and herpes infection can be severe in people with suppressed immune systems. Regardless of severity of symptoms, genital herpes frequently causes psychological distress in people who know they are infected. Herpes may play a role in the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Herpes can make people more susceptible to HIV infection, and it can make HIV-infected individuals more infectious.
In addition, genital HSV can lead to potentially fatal infections in babies. It is important that women avoid contracting herpes during pregnancy because a newly acquired infection during late pregnancy poses a greater risk of transmission to the baby. If a woman has active genital herpes at delivery, a cesarean delivery is usually performed. Fortunately, infection of a baby from a woman with herpes infection is rare.
There is no treatment that can cure herpes, but antiviral medications can shorten and prevent outbreaks during the period of time the person takes the medication. In addition, daily suppressive therapy for symptomatic herpes can reduce transmission to partners. The main pharmacological effects of natural medicine are their immuno-stimulative and antiviral functions. They are devoid of toxicity and negative side effects when used per instructions.
As is known, chemical synthetic drugs have a very strong side effects and can cause canceration and malformation to the body, damage of physiological function, and even paralysis and death. While the ingredients of natural drugs are all biological organics and essential materials that are useful and harmless to humans. Natural medicine is becoming the treatments of choice for those seeking genital herpes treatment. To learn more, please go to http://www.naturespharma.org.