What is Genital Herpes?

There are two types of HSV.

• HSV type 2 (HSV-2) is the usual cause of genital herpes, but it also can infect the mouth.
• HSV type 1 (HSV-1) most commonly infects the mouth and lips, causing sores known as fever blisters or cold sores. Roughly 95% of fever blisters are caused by HSV-1. To a lesser extent, herpes type 1 can also cause sores to the genitals. Roughly 30% of genital lesions are caused by HSV-1

How common is Herpes? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20% of American teenagers and adults are infected with herpes type 2. Women are more commonly infected than men, and roughly 25% of women are infected with HSV-2.

It is estimated that over 1.6 million new cases occur each year. Most persons infected with HSV-2 have not been diagnosed, and fifty percent or more of new cases are asymptomatic or unrecognized. Since the late 1970s, the number of people with genital herpes infection has increased 30 percent nationwide. The largest increase has been among teens and young adults.

Causes of Genital Herpes

Most people get genital herpes by having sex with someone who is shedding the herpes virus either during an outbreak or during a period with no symptoms. In fact, most herpes sexual transmission occurs while the source case is asymptomatic. Thus, people who do not know they have herpes play an important role in transmission.

HSV penetrates susceptible mucosal surfaces or abraded cracks in the skin. At the time of initial infection, the virus is transported along peripheral nerve axons to the nerve cell bodies’ sacral ganglia. The virus remains latent indefinitely in the paraspinous ganglia.

You can transmit herpes through close contact other than sexual intercourse. Oral sex, close skin-to-skin contact, and perinatally (mother to child) transmission are examples . The virus is spread rarely, if at all, by objects such as a toilet seat or hot tub. The efficiency of sexual transmission is greater from men to women than from women to men. This partially explains the higher incidence levels of herpes among women versus men.

The likelihood of transmission (frequency of occurrences and asymptomatic viral shedding) declines with increased duration of infection. Washing with soap and water readily inactivates HSV.

It is important to note that genital herpes type 2 infection facilitates both acquisition and transmission of the HIV infection.

Sources: US Department of Health & Human Services