Herpes Simplex Virus

Herpes is a viral disease that mostly affects the mouth and the genital areas. The Herpes Virus is known as the Herpes Simples Virus. It has two strains- HSV-1 and HSV-2. HSV-1 is responsible for oral Herpes and HSV-2 causes genital herpes.

HSV-1 virus is associated with infection on or in the mouth. The symptoms include lesions or sores on the lips and mouth. Other symptoms include swollen gums and also flu-like symptoms including high fever. Since gums and the mouth are infected, the affected persons find difficulty in eating. Also, in most cases the tongue may develop a white coating.

HSV-1 is widely prevalent amongst children. The symptoms of this disease are not easily identifiable. People usually don\'t associate blisters or sores with Herpes. As a result, they are not even aware that they are suffering from the disease. So, infected children, when they interact with other children, either in school or while playing, unintentionally spread the disease because the virus spreads through physical contact.

The HSV-2 Virus is responsible for causing genital herpes. The symptoms of this disease are blisters that appear around the genital areas. These blisters break and cause sores, which in turn contain the HSV-2 strain. These sores release the virus causing genital herpes.

Genital Herpes can be very painful and dangerous if the person is an expectant mother. In the case of a primary attack, chances of passing the virus to the unborn infant are high. If this happens, it can prove fatal for the baby. But this risk is less if the attack is secondary, because in that case the mother\'s immune system has usually built up the defense to deal with the virus.

The first attack is called the primary episode. After this episode subsides, the virus remains dormant in the nearby nerves, and periodically remerges to cause further attacks. With proper precaution and treatment, the frequency and the severity of the attacks decrease because the immune system gradually builds up the anti-bodies to counteract the disease.