As soon as a person notices that the herpes blisters have disappeared he or she may think that the virus is gone away — but the virus is in fact hiding inside the body. Both HSV-1 and HSV-2 virus remains hidden in the body till the next genital herpes outbreak. In the recurrent (repeated) genital herpes outbreaks the virus reactivates itself and the sores appear again.

From time to time, the Genital Herpes virus keeps on reactivating itself again and again. This re occurrence of the herpes virus causes discomfort and episodes of sores each time. Generally a person may experience almost 4 to 5 outbreaks of herpes every year — but in some of the cases the frequency of the herpes outbreaks decreases over time.

Genital herpes also increases the risk of HIV infection. This is due to the fact that if there’s a slit in the skin (such as a sore) then HIV virus can make their way into the body more easily during unprotected sexual intercourse. Additionally if a pregnant woman is infected with genital herpes then the newborn baby is at great risk of getting herpes. She may infect the newborn baby during delivery. A newborn baby might get meningitis (a swelling of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord), seizures, and brain damage due to Herpes infection.

As of now no cure for herpes has been found or invented. Once a person is infected, the herpes virus will always reside in the human body. There is always the risk of infection transmission to other persons by any means of unprotected sexual contact. It doesn’t matter whether the blisters are present or not in the genital area. Many cases of genital herpes infection transmission occur when the symptoms are not present.

what is genital herpes? Sign and symptoms of genital herpes Diagnosis of genital herpes Genital herpes cures and treatments

As it is said that Prevention is better than cure, the best way to get rid of Genital herpes is prevention. The only reliable method of preventing genital herpes is abstinence from sex. Teens involved in sexual activity should properly use a latex condom every time they are engaged in any form of sexual contact whether vaginal, oral, or anal sex. Girls should ask their partners to use dental dams as protection while receiving oral sex. Dental dams are thin sheets of latex and can be purchased online or from many pharmacies.

Though there is no treatment available which can cure herpes, but there are antiviral medications available which can shorten and prevent outbreaks, at least for the period of time the person is on the medications. Additionally, daily suppressive treatment for symptomatic herpes can diminish the transmission to partners.

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