I have a lot of things to add to this discussion, though it will probably get buried.
Medical professional here. Yes there is risk when getting involved with a person who has HSV, but it is minimal especially if the person is on prophylactic anti-viral medication and you're using protection. Also consider that someone with oral HSV can give it to you through kissing- do you ask about HSV status every time you kiss someone?
Additionally, it is often transmitted oral to genital or vice versa so people often end up with genital HSV from oral sex, not from overtly risky sexual behavior. Please note that I have not been indicating type 1 or 2 for a reason. They are BOTH capable of colonizing the ganglion in the oral and genital regions- that's because there is mucosa in both those regions. The difference is that the tropism (or affinity) for each is greater for the different locations- so type 1 is generally better able to infect orally while type 2 has an easier time of it in the genital region.
The biggest issues are this:
1. Primary infection is painful and uncomfortable. But recurrences are similar to shingles, and probably less severe than that; also, easily treatable. Additionally, with a secondary recurrence, your body has immunity to the virus so the outbreaks don't occur very frequently if you have an intact immune system- that's why people often only develop cold sores during stressful times.
2. Pregnant women with a PRIMARY infection can pass it to the baby DURING BIRTH. But if they are just having a secondary outbreak, the baby will have circulating antibodies from the mother for a while shortly after birth and these will also be in breast milk, so baby is at little risk in this situation. Also- you can treat prophylactically before the baby is born if the mother is having an outbreak. But again, very dangerous if mom has a PRIMARY infection close to birth because she hasn't formed a complete immune response to the virus yet.
3. Encephalitis- this usually happens with oral herpes which is usually type 1. This is scary shit. Altered mental status, seizures, etc. are no joke.
In the end, besides the discomfort and stigma, genital herpes is completely manageable and not life threatening- at least no more so than oral herpes. I'm really pleased that OP decided to share his experience and did something to spread the word.
DDconKiwi204 karma
I have a lot of things to add to this discussion, though it will probably get buried.
Medical professional here. Yes there is risk when getting involved with a person who has HSV, but it is minimal especially if the person is on prophylactic anti-viral medication and you're using protection. Also consider that someone with oral HSV can give it to you through kissing- do you ask about HSV status every time you kiss someone?
Additionally, it is often transmitted oral to genital or vice versa so people often end up with genital HSV from oral sex, not from overtly risky sexual behavior. Please note that I have not been indicating type 1 or 2 for a reason. They are BOTH capable of colonizing the ganglion in the oral and genital regions- that's because there is mucosa in both those regions. The difference is that the tropism (or affinity) for each is greater for the different locations- so type 1 is generally better able to infect orally while type 2 has an easier time of it in the genital region.
The biggest issues are this: 1. Primary infection is painful and uncomfortable. But recurrences are similar to shingles, and probably less severe than that; also, easily treatable. Additionally, with a secondary recurrence, your body has immunity to the virus so the outbreaks don't occur very frequently if you have an intact immune system- that's why people often only develop cold sores during stressful times. 2. Pregnant women with a PRIMARY infection can pass it to the baby DURING BIRTH. But if they are just having a secondary outbreak, the baby will have circulating antibodies from the mother for a while shortly after birth and these will also be in breast milk, so baby is at little risk in this situation. Also- you can treat prophylactically before the baby is born if the mother is having an outbreak. But again, very dangerous if mom has a PRIMARY infection close to birth because she hasn't formed a complete immune response to the virus yet. 3. Encephalitis- this usually happens with oral herpes which is usually type 1. This is scary shit. Altered mental status, seizures, etc. are no joke.
In the end, besides the discomfort and stigma, genital herpes is completely manageable and not life threatening- at least no more so than oral herpes. I'm really pleased that OP decided to share his experience and did something to spread the word.
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