First Episode & Symptoms of Genital Herpes
If you know or suspect your sexual partner is infected with the herpes simplex type 2 virus (HSV-2) that typically causes genital herpes, you may may want to be on the lookout for symptoms that you've been infected, too. According to the Centers for Disease Control, if you have a first episode, symptoms usually occur within 2 weeks of being exposed to the herpes virus.
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An Unpleasant Surprise
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The first episode of genital herpes, also known as a primary outbreak, has a bad reputation for being the worst. Even before an outbreak, you may experience full-body symptoms that are similar to the flu--headache, aching joints, fever, and swollen glands in the area of the groin. The skin where the outbreak will occur may tingle or be very sensitive and painful.
What to Expect
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When lesions erupt during a first episode, they can be quite painful and present as watery clusters of blisters on and around the genital area or rectum. The blisters eventually rupture and scab over without leaving scars in between 2 and 4 weeks. However, it's not uncommon for those who experience a first episode to get a second group of lesions just as the first ones are healing.
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Subsequent Outbreaks
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If you have a first episode of genital herpes, you can probably expect to get four to five subsequent outbreaks in the next year, according to the CDC. These will typically be less severe and won't last as long as the first episode, and you probably won't experience flu-like symptoms during these outbreaks. Outbreaks generally tend to decrease in frequency with time.
Treating Symptoms
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There is no cure for genital herpes; the HSV virus that causes it entrenches itself in your nerve centers and lays dormant until it's activated. But there are oral medicines that can reduce the frequency of outbreaks, as well as duration and severity of symptoms. These drugs are called antivirals because they prevent the herpes virus from replicating in your body and may go by the names of Zovirax, Famvir or Valtrex.
What You Should Know
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Herpes is often associated with direct genital-to-genital contact. However, the HSV-1 that causes fever blisters can also cause genital outbreaks as well. Outbreaks caused by HSV-1 are typically milder and less frequent. If you or a sexual partner have a fever blister, avoid oral sex until the lesions are thoroughly healed. According to the Mayo Clinic, while 90 percent of cases of genital herpes are still caused by HSV-2, those caused by HSV-1 are on the increase due to the increasing popularity of oral sex.
Prevention Tactics
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Herpes is particular insidious because it can be passed from one sexual partner to another by asymptomatic shedding of the herpes virus through tiny breaks in the skin; it's possible for you to get genital herpes even if your partner has no signs or symptoms. Use of antiviral medications and routine and correct use of latex condoms during sex can prevent genital herpes from spreading. But if you're not infected with HSV, the only way to know that you won't get it is to abstain from sex or stay in a monogamous relationship with a partner who's been determined to be free of HSV through medical testing.
Do You Know?
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According to the experts at the Mayo Clinic, most people don't experience a first episode or obvious symptoms of genital herpes. In fact, up to 90 percent of people infected with herpes are unaware that they have it and may experience only mild symptoms or even none at all. The reason why most people don't show overt signs and symptoms when infected with HSV-2 is that they already have HSV-1 that causes cold sores--this caused antibodies to build in their body that battle subsequent HSV infections. When they experience symptoms of genital herpes, they are so mild they go ignored.
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