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HERPES |
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This is caused by the Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV).
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How You Catch It:
- Men and women catch it by having sexual intercourse, oral sex or anal sex, or kissing a person who has a Herpes blister on the mouth (a cold sore). Babies who are infected have usually caught it from their mothers during birth.
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When Symptoms Show:
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Signs of Infection:
- Small blisters or sores show up on the part of a person’s body that was infected. They can be on a man or woman’s sex organs, on the skin near their sex organs, around their bowel opening, or around their mouth or eyes. On the mouth they are know as cold sores. These blisters heal up, and often break out again. They are usually painful.
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Problems:
- Men or women can hurt when they urinate. A woman who is infected may be more likely to get cancer of her cervix ( the kind of cancer that is found by doing the Pap Smear test). Newborn babies may have eye infections, be retarded, or die. Some people are upset because they will have this infection for the rest of their life and are afraid that other people won’t want to have sex with them.
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Tests:
- A doctor or clinic may look at the sores or blisters, or test the liquid from the sores.
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Treatment:
- There is no cure. There are pills and creams that can make the sores hurt less and keep them from breaking out as often. People must use condoms to help protect each other from the virus.
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Other:
- Whenever a man or woman has the Herpes sores on their body, they can give the infection to another person who touches those sores. (If a woman has sores inside her vagina, she may not know that they are there.) When you see or feel the sores, don’t have sex with anyone. If you are a pregnant woman who has Herpes, tell your doctor. Women with Herpes should get a Pap Smear test every year to check for cancer. Always tell you sex partner that you have Herpes. You can avoid sex when the sores are present and use condoms to protect the other person when the sores are not present.
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For more information:
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