Dear Readers:
Lifeline apologises to Ms. V.R. from Morant Bay, St. Thomas, for the delay in responding to her letter ... but in her situation, the information remains relevant!
V.R. keeps having a discharge. She gets medication to clear it up but it recurs again and again. Her doctor suspects herpes and requested a blood test which she, at time of writing, had not yet done. She gets this sore on her labia which heals but then returns later at the same site.
V.R. asks 'Lifeline' if she can have a normal life and have children with a diagnosis of herpes. She is also very scared as she asks how soon after being diagnosed with herpes will a person die.
V.R. should be very much alive to read this response! Herpes Simplex Genitalia is most often caused by Herpes Simplex Virus I, but can also be caused by Herpes Simplex Virus II, which is most often termed a 'cold sore' and is commonly seen at the corner of the affected person's mouth, or on the lip itself. While irritating and causing some discomfort, neither Herpes I nor Herpes II is fatal when contracted by adults.
Where there is cause for concern is in the pregnant mother where if herpes sores are present on the genitalia at the time of delivery, the virus can infect and injure the infant as it descends the birth canal. This virus can attack the baby's nervous system causing seizures, developmental delays and mental retardation. Because of this possibility it may be recommended that an infant of an infected mother who has an outbreak of sores, be delivered by caesarean section.
SYMPTOMS
The herpes virus produces small fluid-filled blisters and red, itchy, tingling and burning sores on the skin which affects (infects). The blisters can cause pain and nearby lymph nodes may become enlarged. After about one week, the blisters form crusts and heal.
When the blisters and sores are present on the sex organs they can become secondarily infected and can be spread to partners through sexual contact. The disease will seem to heal without treatment. In truth, it returns to the nerve roots and nerve ganglia and remains dormant until some trigger reactivates it.
Common triggers are emotional stress, overwork, fatigue, fever, some drugs and even the monthly periods.
The outbreaks can recur at any time during life, but tends to do so with less frequency as the years pass.
There are several antiviral oral and topical preparations which will treat herpes and if taken regularly will prevent the outbreaks in over 90 per cent of persons with herpes. Examples of these anti-viral are Zovirax (acyclovir) and Valtrex.
A blood test is available which will indicate the presence of the Herpes virus within a person but will not distinguish the type of Herpes or the site of infection. It does not distinguish the 'cold sore' of the mouth from the genital infection. To determine if genital herpes is present, swabs should be taken and sent for 'tissue culture'.
With healthy eating, rest, regular exercise and good hygiene and the use of condoms, or abstention during viral outbreaks, complemented with the use of antiviral medication, a normal life can be enjoyed.
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