In spite of major advancements in the medical world, unfortunately there is no treatment available for complete cure of Herpes yet. It is a viral infection which even after treating, will not leave the host body. It may stay in a dormant state, but will definitely not leave once it enters. Although through medications and drugs, a few occurrences can be brought to control, complete ejection is not yet possible. What role does medication play? Medications can limit the chances of the spreading of your viral infection. Sores may disappear without treatment in some cases. Most doctors, while diagnosing and treating Herpes, send a swab of the patient’s lesion for a test. As soon as the reports confirm that the patient has Herpes, he/she immediately gets started with the Episodic Therapy. This therapy ensures that your outbreaks get reduced considerably within a few days of application. In this therapy, you will be asked to take some antiviral medicines for several days till the outbreaks and sores disappear. This is for the people with mild and not-so-often flare-ups. For people having severe outbreaks, Suppressive Therapy is effective. This therapy is a lifetime procedure. Here, you are asked to take an antiviral drug on an ongoing basis to manage the condition.

Herpes is a disease that is caused by the Herpes Simplex virus. The signs of this disease usually erupt on the skin and may be seen in the mouth or on the genitals of the patient, among other parts of the body, in rare cases. Read on to know more about herpes. • Types of herpes Herpes can be of two types. The first kind is known as oral herpes, which can happen when there are sores in the mouth due to persistent cold and cough as well as flu. Also, fever blisters can be caused by such a condition, where painful sores come to dot the mouth. This makes eating and drinking quite painful. The next type of herpes is known as genital herpes, which is caused by the HSV2 virus. This is a sexually transmitted disease (STD), which can be caused by unprotected sexual contact and intercourse with a partner who was suffering from this condition. • Causes of herpes The causes of herpes as per the pictures of herpes depend on the kind of contact that may have happened. This is basically a contagious disease that may take place when one comes in contact with an infected person, which leads to a transfer of the virus.

Risk factors to be concerned about If you are suffering from Herpes and any other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), you have a probability of having a weakened immune system. This means you are prone to have more and severe outbreaks of Genital Herpes as well as Mouth or Oral Herpes. Complications are there in this situation such as developing AIDS and being susceptible to other serious diseases as well. Other risk may include suffering from Meningitis, an infection of the Cerebrospinal Fluid and tissues present within the brain and spinal cord, Encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), and inflammation in the spinal cord region, usually in the lower part, which results in constipation, difficulty in urinating, etc. Herpes can also develop on the lips (Herpes Labialis), which are commonly known as “cold sores” or “fever blisters”. This is usually very severe than any other types of Herpes associated with the genitals and eyes, which can lead you to blindness if not treated early and persistent irritations in the eyes causing pain and itching. Newborn babies who are born with the infection suffer from brain damage, blindness, and even death. Genital herpes can also develop serious and critical bladder problems. This can happen as sometimes, the tube which carries urine from bladder to urethra may get inflamed and due to this, the urethra may remain closed for a certain amount of time.

Genital or oral herpes can be distressing, especially if you suffer from frequent outbreaks. While it may me difficult to kill the herpes virus, the disease can be managed by understanding its nature and causes. Herpes is caused by two kinds of herpes simplex virus; the HSV-1 that usually causes cold sores and facial sores, and HSV-2 that causes sores on the buttocks, genitals or rectum. One out of every three adults carries this virus. Most of the times, the carrier is not even aware of the presence of the herpes virus within his body. The virus usually enters our body through an opening in the skin, or the virus may become dormant, but it lives there forever. The carrier may become aware of its presence only after an outbreak, which may not come for years in some people. Causes of herpes infection: One way to be infected with herpes virus is by skin-to-skin contact with an infected person, who is having an outbreak of sores or blisters at the time of contact. The virus is also transmitted by contact with body fluids including blood, saliva and semen of an infected person. This kind of contamination can occur even if the infected individual is not suffering from an outbreak, (or has no physical symptoms of the virus) because the dormant virus is present in his body fluids.