Posts tagged herpes transmission
[Video] Herpes facts
I’m on a mission to dispel the lie that herpes is something to ashamed of. I’m committed to helping people who have herpes realize that their lives can be just as normal and awesome as they’ve ever wanted. Instead of trying to change culture, all we have to do is wake people up — one at a time — from illusions and false ideas around what it means to have herpes in the first place. And one of the ways to do that is through education.
The reality of herpes is not what most people think. So we’ve prepared this short video as a basic overview of some important herpes facts and perspectives to set the record straight.
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[Video] Doctor answers questions about genital herpes (HSV) and HPV
Dr. Peter Leone (who has appeared in the New York Times and NPR’s Talk of the Nation) stopped by our monthly herpes support group on April 8, 2013, in Raleigh, NC, to give herpes facts and update us on the latest herpes statistics. He gave so much clarity around all the horribly misunderstood herpes information out there!
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[Video] Celebrities with herpes?
Guest author from our community: Ashley
My plan this week was to write a blog about celebrities with herpes (oral or genital). It was my hope that by putting additional faces (especially famous faces) to this condition, we could feel a sense of camaraderie. I hoped we would be able to see that there are plenty of successful people with herpes and seeing that would give us hope. I underestimated the power and bias of the media. The media is to celebrities with herpes as society is to individuals with herpes. Mean, nasty, hateful, and just plain not nice. I had no idea what I was in for when I started researching for the article. Step one: Google “celebrities with herpes.” Here’s a partial list …
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Questions after contracting herpes
Guest author from our community: Katie S.
Contracting herpes often comes as a shock to people and leaves them in a state of confusion, fear, and shame. When I was first diagnosed my biggest questions were “How did this happen to me?” “How will this affect me?” and “Will I ever be able to live a normal life again?” Herpes was a scary realization at first, and I spent a lot of time worrying about the unknown. Now that almost a year has gone by, my life is nowhere near the horror story that I imagined it would be. In fact, my relationship to herpes has completely changed, and my life is more open, loving, and exciting than ever. More >
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Understanding genital herpes
Dr. Peter A. Leone is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and Public Health. He also directs the H.I.V./sexually transmitted disease prevention program for the state of North Carolina and serves on the National Coalition of STD Directors, a group of public health officials who promote awareness of sexually transmitted diseases.
Watch the full video “Doctor answers questions about herpes” when Dr. Leone came to our in-person herpes support group in Raleigh, NC.
Q: People are more worried about getting H.I.V./AIDS than genital herpes. Should we be paying more attention to herpes?
A: H.I.V./AIDS is viewed as a lethal disease, and herpes isn’t, so many have ignored it. The reason why we should focus on herpes now is that the relationship between herpes and H.I.V. is significant. Although people don’t die from herpes, there is a synergy between these two infections. If a person has genital herpes due to the herpes type 2 virus, their risk of acquiring H.I.V. is much higher than if they didn’t have herpes. And a person who has both H.I.V. and herpes 2 is more likely to transmit both infections. More >
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What I wish I knew when I was first diagnosed with herpes
Guest author from our community: WhoopsiDaysi
I can remember when I was first diagnosed with herpes. It was around December 3, 2011. I had a few things come at me – I became an empty nester and about six weeks later my husband left. My life was turned upside down, to say the least, and then I got herpes symptoms that would suggest my worst nightmare (probably as a result of all the stress I was feeling). I tried to ignore the symptoms for a few days, tried my own remedies, tried to rationalize that it was nothing, but eventually I gave in and went for testing because it wasn’t going away. I wish I would have known then what I know now …
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Rates of herpes transmission?
Herpes is transmitted via skin-to-skin contact, but only when the virus is active (whether a visible herpes outbreak or viral shedding). You CAN’T get herpes from saliva or blood. You CAN get genital herpes from someone going down on you and they have cold sores (whether it’s visible or not) — cold sores (aka mouth herpes mostly caused by HSV-1) magically turns to genital herpes in an instant (in fact, 50% of all new genital herpes cases are from oral sex). It’s incredibly rare to pass genital HSV-2 to your partners mouth through oral sex (only 1% of HSV-2 cases are oral). And just to be totally clear, herpes CANNOT be transmitted by sharing a towel or drinking after someone! In short, there must be an opening in the receiver’s body for the herpes virus to gain access, whether that be a mucous membrane or a small cut/abrasion in the skin (which is why bikini waxing has been all over the news as making you more prone to getting herpes). More >
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Herpes during pregnancy
What are the risks to my unborn baby if I have genital herpes?
The biggest concern with genital herpes during pregnancy is that you might transmit it to your baby during labor and delivery. Newborn herpes is relatively rare (about 1,500 newborns are affected each year), but the disease can be devastating, so it’s important to learn how to reduce your baby’s risk of becoming infected.
You can transmit herpes to your baby during labor and delivery if you’re contagious, or “shedding herpes virus,” at that time. The risk of transmission is high if you get herpes for the first time (a primary infection) late in your pregnancy.
Much less commonly, you can transmit the virus if you’re having a recurrent infection. If you’ve ever had a herpes outbreak, the virus remains in your body and can become reactivated.
In rare cases, a pregnant woman may transmit the infection to her baby through the placenta if she gets herpes for the first time in her first trimester. If a baby is infected this way, the virus can cause a miscarriage or serious birth defects.
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