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Herpes Simplex Virus

Herpes Simplex Virus - human herpes virus one and two - commonly cause recurrent infection affecting the skin, mouth, lips, eyes, and genitals.  These infections usually form on the mucus membranes of these surfaces and cause clusters of small, painful vesicles.

Diagnosis of herpes simplex virus infections must be done clinically.  Swabs of the vesicles must be taken and sent to a laboratory where the herpes simplex virus is cultured.  Unfortunately, once a positive diagnosis has been made, treatment of herpes simplex virus only addresses the symptoms.  There are no cures for the herpes simplex virus.

Herpes Simplex Virus

Both types of herpes simplex virus can cause oral and genital herpes.  Usually, though, the pattern is that herpes simplex type 1 primarily causes oral herpes and herpes simplex virus causes genital herpes. 

Infection from herpes simplex virus is a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Herpes simplex virus is transmitted through close contact when a carrier is actively shedding the virus.  Usually this occurs from the painful vesicles but does not always happen this way.

After the initial infection, the herpes simplex virus lays dormant in the nerves.  It’s from these areas that the herpes simplex virus periodically emerges causing eruptions of the vesicles on affected tissues.  Often, these eruptions are due to stresses such as overexposure to sunlight, fever, physical or emotional stress, etc.  These are just ideas though.  Actual reasons for the breakouts are not fully known.  One generality is that the initial eruption of the herpes simplex virus tends to be the most severe with recurrent eruptions occurring less frequently and with less severe symptoms.