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Lois McGuire, R.N., M.S.N., W.H.N.P.
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Lois McGuire, R.N., M.S.N., W.H.N.P.
Lois McGuire, R.N., M.S.N., W.H.N.P.
Lois McGuire was a registered nurse in Obstetrics and Gynecology for 20 years. This experience made attending Planned Parenthood of Minnesota for the Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner Program a natural step. Later she attended Case Western Reserve University to achieve her Master's in Nursing. She has been employed at Mayo Clinic as a nurse practitioner for 15 years. She works with women from adolescence though all the life cycles. Lois is committed to a holistic nursing approach, empowering women to take care of their health.
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Safe sex blog
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Nov. 25, 2008
Herpes prompts many questions
By Lois McGuire, R.N., M.S.N., W.H.N.P.
You have had many questions regarding herpes (HSV). This is a big topic, and so we'll look at different aspects of it over the next few weeks.
Genital herpes is common, affecting both men and women. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the herpes simplex virus is present in as many as one in six teens and adults in the United States.
Here are some of the areas that we'll cover:
- Types of herpes
- Categories
- Symptoms
- Frequency
- Diagnosis
- How it is spread
- Treatment
- Suppressive treatment
Types
Herpes is a virus. There are eight human herpes viruses. They are:- Herpes 1 (HSV-1): traditionally thought of as cold sores or fever blisters
- Herpes 2 (HSV-2): traditionally thought of as genital sores
- Chicken pox and shingles
- Epstein-Barr: a common cause of mononucleosis
- Cytomegalovirus: serious when contracted during pregnancy
- Human herpes virus 6 or roseola: a type of measles
- Human herpes virus 7: causes a rash
- Human herpes virus 8: causes Kaposi's sarcoma, an infection seen mostly in AIDS patients
I only tell you the above mentioned types to round out the discussion on herpes. The rest of this blog will address HSV-1 and HSV-2. If you have questions about the other types of herpes, please contact your provider.
Categories
- Primary refers to an outbreak that occurs in a person who has never had HSV-1 or HSV-2.
- Non-primary occurs when a person already has HSV-1 and now has been infected with HSV-2. The existing antibodies to HSV-1 may keep the outbreak from HSV-2 unnoticeable, meaning the newly infected HSV-2 person doesn't have symptoms. Up to 80 percent to 90 percent of first time genital outbreaks have no symptoms. This explains the statistics above.
- Recurrent is just that, recurrent. People with HSV-2 have an average of 4-6 outbreaks per year. This can vary greatly from person to person. Some people can have more than one per month and others may only have one every few years.
Next week, I will begin with symptoms of HSV-1 and HSV-2. Let me know what questions and observations you have.
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