What is genital herpes?
Genital herpes is a disease which is transmitted by sexual contact. So it is an STD (sexually transmitted disease)). You can have genital herpes without you noticing, but you can have also significantly affected. You then painful blisters on your penis, vagina or anus. Sometimes the blisters are also on the hands or eyes.
Genital herpes is caused by a virus. The virus is always present in your body. If your resistance is low, you can get sick again and infect others.
How contagious is genital herpes?
Genital herpes is caused by a virus. This virus people give to each other through sexual contact with fingers, mouth, anus, penis and vagina.
The virus is also not transmitted by blood, semen or other body fluids.
You are most contagious if you have blisters or sores. If you come with your hands to blisters, you can also get the virus on your hands or your eyes.
Once the blisters have healed, the virus stays in your body. But you will be less infectious.
Sometimes genital herpes occurs after oral sex with someone with a cold sore. Therefore, do not have oral sex if you or your partner has a cold sore.
What are the signs and symptoms of genital herpes?
Most people do not even notice if they have genital herpes. But you can get painful symptoms. These complaints you may have:
- Itching and burning or painful sensation on the infected spot (penis, vagina, anus, hands or eyes). Thereafter red spots. And one or two days later, painful blisters or sores.
- Painful urination.
- A feeling ill with fever, muscle aches and swollen lymph nodes in the groin.
- Discharge from the vagina.
Your doctor may use a cotton swab some fluid from the blisters cease and examined in the laboratory. They will determine whether you really have genital herpes.
What are the consequences of genital herpes?
If you have suffered once genital herpes, you never lose it. The blisters do go away, but if you have a low resistance, the virus can suddenly become active again. For example if you are tired or stressed, when you have the flu or just before menstruation.
You will get the same symptoms as the first time. Yet these later "attacks" usually less violent than the first attack. In most people the blisters heal without being sick.
What is the treatment for genital herpes?
Genital herpes does not need to be treated. It comes after three or four weeks. But if you are very severely affected, your doctor may prescribe medications that slow down the virus. Then it takes the attack less long and he is less fierce. A treatment which the virus disappears completely from the body does not exist.
Has genital herpes problems in pregnancy?
Do you have genital herpes, or you've had it and you are pregnant? Tell your doctor, midwife or obstetrician that you have or have had genital herpes.
Namely, the chance exists that the virus is still in the vagina. The virus could then infect the baby during birth. Therefore, it is sometimes necessary that the doctor postpartum checks if the baby is infected. If so, then the baby gets medication.
But: the risk of infecting your child during childbirth is very small. Only when you get into the last month of pregnancy for the first genital herpes, there is risk to the child. Then perhaps you should give birth by Caesarean section.
Advice for genital herpes
Genital herpes is not treatable, but there are a few pointers where you can observe:
- Do not touch the sores. If you do this accidentally, wash your hands.
- The pain you can take a painkiller such as paracetamol.
- As long as the blisters or sores have not yet, you should not have sexual contact. Even with a condom, you can still infect your partner. The blisters often sit outside the rim of the condom.
- Are you pregnant? Tell your doctor or midwife that you have genital herpes. The doctor can then make sure your baby is not infected at birth.