Q. Will I get a sore on my genitals during every HSV-1 outbreak?

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

• Repeated outbreak of HSV (herpes simplex virus) are common, but repeated outbreaks are usually shorter and less severe. Although the organism stays in the body for the rest of your life, the number of outbreaks tends to decrease over a period of years.

•  At the time of the first episode, it should always be treated with Acyclovir. This is to prevent the prolongation of illness and to prevent the severity of the disease. Almost all people with symptomatic first episode subsequently experience the recurrent episodes of HSV.

• Antiviral medications like Acyclovir can be taken as suppressive therapy, so as to reduce the frequency of recurrences or shorten the duration of the illness. Studies have shown that suppressive therapy reduces the frequency of genital herpes recurrence by 70 to 80 percent. 

• If you take Acyclovir only at the time of the episode, it requires initiation within one day of the lesion onset. This will not only shorten the severity of the disease but also shorten the duration of recurrent episodes.

• Ocular herpes and encephalitis due to HSV-1 occurs due to reactivation of the virus at the latent sites in the body, one of the possibility is the change in the status of the immune system or due to stress, in immunocompromised patients like in HIV or patients on cytotoxic drugs.

• Uncontrolled diabetes or thyroid disease can increase the chances of recurrent infection of HSV.

I hope your queries have been answered. If you still need more clarification, please revert.

For further queries consult a venereologist online --> https://www.icliniq.com/ask-a-doctor-online/venereologist 

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

• Encephalitis or ocular herpes can occur in people of all ages. The most common cause is infection by a virus. But patients who are immune compromised or immune suppressed are more susceptible than healthy individuals.

• Your HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) test as you mentioned earlier is negative. Fasting blood sugar and TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) will help you to know whether you have deranged blood sugar levels and thyroid function respectively, so I suggest you get these done.

• Suppressive therapy is preferred for immunocompromised or in an immunodeficient state.

• Use precautions in future like safe protected sex, using condoms.

For more information consult a venereologist online --> https://www.icliniq.com/ask-a-doctor-online/venereologist

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

• As per world health organization (WHO) statistics, 67 % of people under the age of 50 years are infected by HSV-1, which means you are not alone or rare.

• As per WHO, ocular herpes and encephalitis is a rare disorder and occurs mostly in specific situations like disseminated HSV infection and patients with HIV.

• Nearly all of the HSV-infected people will have IgM antibody response followed by IgG antibodies.

• There is no fixed time period; generally, it reactivates when there is stress, psychological trauma, illness, fever, etc.

• The most common site of recurrences is skin and the mucosal areas.

• As far as your marriage or sexual life is concerned, in the case of recurrences in the oral or genital areas, you need to use precautions at the time of active infection.

For further queries consult a venereologist online --> https://www.icliniq.com/ask-a-doctor-online/venereologist

Same symptoms doesn’t mean you have the same problem. Consult a doctor now!

Dr. Ravinder Kaur Sachdeva

Experience: 23 + Yrs

HIV/AIDS Specialist

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