HERPES

QUICK FACTS

1. Most people have herpes simplex - 70% have facial herpes (cold sores) and 10% have genital herpes in the UK. These figures are even higher in other countries including the USA and the developing world.
    

2. Three quarters don't know they have it: 1 in 4 will have no symptoms; 2 in 4 will have only mild symptoms and are unlikely to be diagnosed; 1 in 4 will have more noticeable symptoms and will be diagnosed.
    

3. Herpes Simplex is seldom of any medical importance - some people are quite ill when they catch it but so are some people who catch the flu.
    

4. It is not incurable - your immune system cures it very well and stops recurrences for most people.
    

5. There are good treatment methods for the unlucky few - medication or herbal treatments and improved lifestyle management
    

6. It's not the only infection that stays with us once we catch it - chickenpox and a glandular fever also hide in the body but no one makes a fuss about them.

EIGHT TYPES OF HUMAN HERPES VIRUSES

1. Herpes Simples Virus Type 1 -(cold sores and whitlows on fingers and hands, also half new cases of genital herpes)
    

2. Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 - genital sore, also sometimes cold sores and whitlows
    

3. Varicella-Zoster Virus- also called herpes varicella/chickenpox and herpes zoster/shingles.  A flu-like illness followed by blisters over the body.  If it recurs, as shingles, the blisters will be a restricted area, often around the ribs.
    

4. Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) - also called glandular fever, mononucleosis, mono, kissing disease.  In babies and children, the symptoms are often so mild that they are not noticed.  In teenagers and adults it causes a fever, swollen glands, aching joints and it may cause ongoing fatigue.  If it recurs, it will cause the same symptoms but they will not be as strong and will not last as long.  People on drugs following organ transplants may suffer from ill-health caused by the virus.  EBV may be in the news because it can somteimes cause a cancer called lymphoma.  This cancer occurs in children with malaria in tropical countries and adults in China.
    

5. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) - This virus is present in saliva, breast milk and other secretions. In adults, it is usually caught with no symptoms at all.  Sometimes it causes the same symptoms as a mild glandular fever
    

6. Human Herpesvirus 6 (HHV6) - There are two types: 6A and 6B.  Type 6A has not been shown to cause any disease.  Type 6B causes roseola in babies between 6 months and 1 year old.  By age 2, almost all babies have type 6B virus.  Transmitted through saliva, and, in older people, possibly semen and other secretions. Symptoms include a mild fever lasting for a few days, swollen glands and normally mild rash which appears after the fever goes.
    

7. Human Herpesvirus 7 (HHV7) - By the age of 3, almost all children have HHV-7 and is usually transmitted through saliva, and, in older people, possibly semen and other secretions.
    

8. Human Herpesvirus 8 (HHV8) - also known as Karposi's sarcoma herpes virus (KSHV) - Under 10% of US and European residents have it.

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