Genatal herpies symptoms - signs of gential herpes

Genatal herpies symptoms will differ much between the stages of the infection. The herpees stages are - first outbreak, dormant period (latency), and later recurrencies of the genetal (genital) herpes with further gential herpes symptoms.

The two virus strains, herpes simplex 1 and 2 both will result in similar symptoms but usually with different levels of severity depending on where the site of the infection is found. Usually, a new genital herpes HSV2 infection (these account for about 60% of the total number of herpees infections) will show no initial symptoms at all and for this virus type, the asymptomatic cases are about one in three.

Folliculitis (or in plain English: blocked pores) may in some cases result in symptoms close to those of gential herpes. Folliculitis appear as little red dimple-like instances near the pubic area, sometimes having puss in but not in all cases. These dimples are not the same as the blisters seen in infectionf of genitle herpees (whether caused by the virus strains HSV-2 or HSV-1) and folliculitis should be subject to treatment with bacitracin ointment or neosporin twice daily on the areas affected. If they do not heal and go away within two weeks, you may need to consult your doctor to be on the safe side against wrong diagnosis.

Signs of genitile herpies symptoms outbreak

• Small eruptions on skin surface developing in time span between two days - two weeks following infection.
• First infection symptom is an collection of fluid (an edema) where the infection site is. Very short after this, groups of blisters develop - these are the typical herpes simplex lesions.
• Blisters show up on an inflamed area of skin, usually more visible where skin is dry
  
• Blisters will then quickly dry out and typically heal and go away without leaving any scars. Blisters where skin is dry will heal faster than on moist skin. Itching and discomfort may appear,  but this quickly recedes with healing.
• Once the crust is gone, you will no longer be contagious. A small risk still exist, that virus could still be active in tissue located near the infection site, but not exactly at this place, however, this is very. A primary infection typically lasts 10 days to 3 weeks, irrespective of which of the herpes simplex strains it is (1 or 2), but the skin discomfort could last longer, even up to 6 weeks during the first HSV infection.
• Lymph nodes located near the infection may start to be swollen
• The primary genatal herpes outburst is often followed by fever as well as aches to head and muscles. There may also be symptoms such as from flu. All these signs normally go away within one week.
• After the virus has managed to enter the body, it will slowly spread to mucosal areas nearby, going via the nerve cells. This spreading can lead to larger areas of infection starting to develope elsewhere, not located near the set of blisters.
• Diagnosing the primary herpes infection is vital since a lot of research points to the importance of treating genetal herpes early especially with respect to the limiting of the latent level of virus in that remains dormant in the body, something that may help to achieve fewer recurrencies of herpies symptoms.

Genetal herpes signs during the dormant period

The latency period (dormant period) is the time span between the initial gential herpes outburst and the first recurrence. During this time period, there will be no symptoms and the herpes virus remains dormant, it will not be transmissible which means you are not contagious.

Virus shedding

There are cases at the end of the dormant period where there is no typical recurrence. Instead, there is a phase called shedding. As is the case in the latent period, during the shedding phase there are no visible symptoms of the viral activity. The virus can still be transmitted during shedding (multiplying). Shedding is more probable to occur with the herpes simplex 2 virus strain and also has a higher occurance rate in women. Some studies seem to indicate that shedding without any display of symptoms can be behind as many as 30% of the HSV-2 infections. It is estimated that nearly 50% of all herpes simplex 2 carriers will at some time go through a shedding phase without any visible blisters or other symptoms of genitle herpies signs.

New research has indicated that the shedding phase will occur in most infected patients during 3-5 weeks per year, whether with symptoms or not. A patient who has been recently infected (is in his first year) is more contagious than a patient who has carried the virus for years. This is because the immune system will adapt to the virus and manage better control of it after some learning time.

Symptoms of genitile herpies during recurrance

During recurrence of genital herpies symptoms are similar to the signs present during the primary outbreak, with the difference that they are often less severe and more short lived. Having a fever is a typical sign of the primary infection outbreak, and this symptom is seldom present when the virus is in recurrance phase later. Lymph nodes can still swell up.

Viral recurrences are more commonly seen during the first few years after the original infection and can then typically show up more and more rarely. The time interval between these can be anything from days to years. As time goes by, the immune system learns to handle the virus better and better, although it will never be able to completely kill it.

The reason behind recurrent outbreaks of viral activity, the time interval between recurrences and the strength of the outburst, are areas that are not fully researched but some indications seem to hint that factors such as having menstruation, fever, immune system suppression or being stressed can be correlated. Large, life-changing events, traumas and mood changes have also been proved to have some effect in some cases.

When it is a case of oral herpes, it is possible that recurrence of the virus may happen as a result of larger scale dental work like tooth extraction or root canal treatment.

Symptoms of genetal herpes signs in women

Herpes symptoms in women are often more complex and more complicated to diagnose. There is often a fever during the outbreak, much like a flu, as well as yeast infections (candida albicans) appearance together with the typical blisters, or near in time. There is also very commonly itching and nerve pain or pain in the lower abdominal area as well as urination problems.

The lesions show up in or just outside of the vagina, on the cervix surface or on the buttocks and they often create open ulcers almost instantly, then continuing developing a crust filled with white puss. After the first symptoms, there is often a new set of similar ones occuring in the week after that, quite often followed by swelling of the lymph nodes in the groins. In cases when the lesions are situated on the inside of the vagina, it is common that the person is completely unaware of having a genital herpes condition. Symptoms can still include a discharge but it is typically less visible and appears with low pain or no pain at all.

In upto 20% of the female infections of genatal herpes, the lesions grow outside of the genital area during a primary Herpes-Simplex-2 outbreak. Very common here is to see blisters in the urethra, something that may cause problems with a burning sensation or pain when urinating. The reproductive organs can also be affected by the virus although that is unusual. The symptoms of genital herpies (genatal herpes) can last as long as up to 6 weeks.