Natural Herpes Treatment

People who have herpes but don’t know it can still be passing along the infection - or “shedding” it, Reuters news service reports. One in six adults in the U.S. has genital herpes, making screening for the disease very important. Genital herpes not only causes painful blisters but it can increase your risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

“The people who are symptomatic are really the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr. Christine Johnston, of the University of Washington in Seattle. “We are not having any impact on the epidemic by ignoring it.”

In Johnson’s study, researchers followed 498 people who had antibodies in their blood against genital herpes. This shows they had all been infected, even though about one in six never had any symptoms. Although it is unclear how much virus is needed to infect someone else, Johnston said, the amount of virus shed in the absence of sores was the same for people even without symptoms. Doctors recommend frank conversations with your partner about herpes.

Herpes simplex is easily spread when the viral skin lesion appears, but, it is also spread at other times too. People sometimes notice itching, tingling or other sensations before they see anything on their skin. These sensations are called “Prodromal Symptoms” and indicate the virus may be present on the skin. Herpes is most likely to be spread from the time of these prodromal symptoms to the time when the area is completely healed and the skin looks normal again. Contact with the infected area is very risky during this time.

One can also spread the virus from the location of an outbreak to other places on their body by touching their own sores. Fingers, eyes, and other body areas can accidentally become infected in this way.

Preventing self-infection is important. Do not touch the area during an outbreak but if you do, wash your hands as soon as possible with soap and warm water. This will help prevent the virus from spreading further.

The spreading of genital herpes by such things as soap, towels, clothing, bed sheets, toilet seats, and spa surfaces is highly unlikely because the herpes simplex virus cannot live very long outside of the body. Remember, herpes is generally spread by direct contact.