Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease caused by infection with herpes virus type 1 (HSVI – 15%) and herpes virus type 2 (HSVII – 85%). HSVII can be transmitted during vaginal, orogenital and anal sexual contact even from people without visible lesions. Outside the body, the virus survives very little, so possible infection through contaminated objects is rare.
What genital herpes is and why it occurs
How genital herpes manifests itself
What is the treatment of genital herpes
What genital herpes is and why it occurs
Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease caused by infection with herpes virus type 1 (HSVI – 15%) and herpes virus type 2 (HSVII – 85%). HSVII can be transmitted during vaginal, orogenital and anal sexual contact even from people without visible lesions. Outside the body, the virus survives very little, so possible infection through contaminated objects is rare.
How genital herpes manifests itself
The vast majority of infected people are asymptomatic, but if the disease becomes clinically manifest, symptoms appear after an incubation period of between 2 and 14 days and are represented by:
- Burning or stinging sensation and itching at the portal of entry (internal and external genitalia, rectum, oral cavity)
- Fever
- Muscle pain
- Headache
- Local appearance of vesicles with clear fluid on an erythematous, painful background
After the removal of fluid from the vesicles, areas of intensely painful ulcerated lesions appear accompanied by inflammation of the regional lymph nodes (inguinal, laterocervical depending on the site of the herpetic lesions). In immunocompromised people, genital herpes causes alteration of the general condition with the appearance of extensive hyperkeratotic ulcerative lesions.
After a first episode of herpetic eruption, the virus remains confined to the lymph nodes and may reactivate during life in various situations: decreased immunity, stress, menstruation or exposure to UV light.
Genital HSVII infection in the first weeks of pregnancy can cause miscarriage, while viral contact at a later gestational age can cause intrauterine developmental defects of the fetal central nervous system such as microcephaly or hydrocephalus (excess cerebrospinal fluid in the cerebral ventricles) and ocular-microphthalmia, keratoconjunctivitis and retinitis. Neonatal herpes is acquired intrapartum by contamination of the fetus with either of two viral strains during passage through the cervical canal of the sick mother.
How to diagnose the disease
Diagnosis is clinical and laboratory:
- Clinically painful ulcerative lesions and accompanying adenopathies are evident
- Serological evidence of specific IgG and IgM antibodies in the blood
- Determination of viral DNA in cerebrospinal and vesicular fluid by medical analysis using molecular biology techniques
- In rare cases HSV viremia is determined (determination of viral DNA in blood); viremia is transient and is found in a small number of patients with genital herpes, but is practiced in patients with depressed immune systems
What is the treatment of genital herpes
The treatment of genital herpes infection is based on the administration of antiviral drugs that aim to speed up healing in the acute phase of the infection, without eliminating the virus from the body. In addition to oral preparations, anti-herpes patches (applied to the genital area) and ointments can also be used to limit the spread of lesions and reduce their contagiousness.
Symptomatic medication is represented by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs that reduce the pain and inflammation of nerve fibers affected by the herpes virus.
Find out more:
- Genital herpes – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140673607619084
- Genital Herpes and Public Health – https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/192386
- Genital Herpes Simplex Virus Infections: Clinical Manifestations, Course, and Complications – https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/abs/10.7326/0003-4819-98-6-958