Vaginal Herpes

What happens most often is that people will hear of a disease like vaginal herpes and think it can only be spread a limited number of ways. This is by no means the case. Like any sickness, this particular form of herpes can be contracted as a result of various sources, the least of which is sexual intercourse. Just because someone has a general, understanding of the workings of a sickness does not mean that they know everything there is to know. For instance, some strands of herpes can cause loss of sight, loss of hearing, and even death. For those of you who were not aware of those things, I’m sure that you now understand my point. First off, some of the events that can trigger vaginal herpes include illnesses, stress, the start of a woman’s period, fatigue, introduction to heat or cold, and exposure to sunlight (or ultraviolet rays to be more specific).

A few of these triggers may seem strange, such as the exposure to sunlight one, but hopefully a quick look into the nature of the herpes virus will go a long way to explaining it all. Vaginal herpes is a byproduct of the Herpes Simplex Virus, or HSV. HSV type 1 and HSV type 2 are the main strands of the virus. HSV type 1 is more closely associated with outbreaks on the mouth, and many may be shocked to note that fever blisters and cold sores are simply manifestations of HSV type 1 since the strand is partial to the skin and mucous membranes. While on the other hand, HSV type 2 is more common to the genital area.  However, both strands have been known to cross out of their comfort zone and attack other regions of the body.

The infected site of the virus is usually the area that was originally exposed to the exposed to the virus in the first place. Hence, if your partner has genital herpes and you perform oral sex on them, then the outbreak site will be around, or in your mouth, rather than on your genitals and vice versa. Meaning that someone with HSV 1 can give another person HSV 2 and someone with HSV 2 can give someone else HSV 1.

Once you have the virus you can have recurrent infections down the road. Therefore, if you have had a case of herpes and yet you are unable to pinpoint the exact cause, it may simply be that this current eruption is simply a recurrence. Especially since some victims of the virus do not know they have it since they there are no visible symptoms. Though the virus seems to affect both men and women in equal amounts, the group of people most likely to catch it are children who live in crowded low-economy areas. The reason why is because the types of environments that these children find themselves in are breeding grounds for a lot of the risk factors associated with herpes in general. Herpes can be spread in the saliva, stools, urine, the lesions found on the skin during an infection, and pus from the eyes.

Because vaginal herpes is an STD it is most commonly spread through oral sex, anal sex, and simple sexual intercourse. Less well known are the cases where the virus is spread through coughing, fecal to oral, mother to fetus, blood, needles, blood transfusions, and finally contact with things like toilet seats, Jacuzzis, and sex toys such as vibrators. So, along with intercourse, as well as the other chances to spread the virus that were mentioned before, herpes can also reside on  objects that come in direct contact with the sores on an infected person. As a result, having vaginal herpes does not necessarily have to brand you as being promiscuous or as a practicer of unsafe sex.  Especially since there are a number of factors and causes out there that can account for an outbreak. It’s all about keeping a close eye on what you do and who you do it with at any given time so that if you should contract the virus, you can have a better understanding of why and how it happened.