The infection called herpes

Herpes is an infection caused by a very resourceful kind of microbe known as a virus. It is a clever virus too which finds it easy or convenient to adapt to their respective hosts. The virus causing herpes is of two types which are named the Herpes simplex Type 1 and Type 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2). The former is mostly involved in causing lesions around the face or more broadly, around the head and neck. In some cases, it causes a severe kind of gum inflammation called gingivostomatitis. This is often seen in children. The Type 2 is mainly found in association with disease in the genital region. This broad categorisation is sometimes wrong especially among certain population groups in whom the Type 1 is found more in association with genital diseases than the Type 2.

Herpes is not a new disease although it was not properly understood until the last two decades of the twentieth century. It dates back to more than 2000 years when the ancient Greeks in response to the creepy nature of the disease named it a creeping or crawling disease. In the Type 1 disease in which the face and lips are primarily involved, the skin problem it causes often resembles a bleeding gum. Most of these infections are not associated with any notable condition or illness. In the majority of cases, there is in fact, no disease status. However, when there is such a disease condition developing in association with this infection, significant illness, incapacitation and even death can occur.

This disease condition has increased in importance and spread in the last quarter of a century. It has therefore become a major public health concern and even though there is no immediate association with this virus of dramatic images of suffering and disease and death, the conditions exist without doubt. There is much ignorance about this virus and what it causes and there is so much else in terms of what damage it can cause especially among those people who already have a compromised immune status as a result of another condition like cancer treatment or long-standing kidney or liver disease.  It is also more likely to occur in people with AIDS. In the United States, herpes is the most common cause of genital ulcers.

Both strains of the virus can cause disease in man as has been mentioned above. In addition, they are able to penetrate the unique kind of tissue prevalent in nerves and induce those cells to allow them to reproduce and multiply.  It tends therefore, to follow the various nerve routes prevalent in the areas of the body where it mounts its attacks.  It can complicate the wounds associated with burns and certain other skin conditions that would result in an inflammation of the skin known as dermatitis. The virus is found everywhere in the world and no age group is exempt from its effects. It is endemic in the human population and human beings are its only known reservoir. The virus also has no known natural vectors but it is liable to perform periodic reactivation which is the reason why so many sufferers of the infection become depressed and poorly motivated when they are exposed to repeated infection.  The virus is speedily inactivated by drying and at room temperature so that it quickly loses its potency once it is outside the body. As a result of that weakness, it is not common to get the infection by droplets or in the form of aerosol.

Herpes simplex is transmitted by close personal contact. The subsequent inoculation with the virus is through the mucosa of the mouth and lips, the cervix and the conjunctiva as well as small tears or cuts in the skin. Transmission through sexual intercourse is an important method of spread and it is more easily contracted by those who already have some prior genital infection because the mucosal lining of the organ concerned would have been breached sufficiently for the virus to gain entry into the body. Once this happens, a life time of repeated flare up of the infection becomes the order of the person’s life and that is very depressing.

Expectant mothers also can pass on the virus to their unborn babies with significant risk of illness and even death in store for the unborn baby. In the new-born period, it can cause significant disease and features like fever, jaundice and failure to thrive are associated with it. Sometimes, these new-borns die from the sheer combination of symptoms. The mortality rate associated with this infection is determined by three key features: these are infection in the person who is already suffering from a compromised immune status; one who has developed encephalitis which is a swelling of the brain caused by the ability of the virus to cross into that organ and infection of babies around the time of birth.

Herpes simplex can also be found in children who did not contract it from their mothers. Often, they suffer from the Type 1 which they can obtain from saliva. They are able to get this variant from exchanging kisses with an older person who has contracted the infection. Type 2 infections are associated with sexual abuse in young children so that the presence of the tell-tale lesions in this age group would be an indication of sexual molestation and even abuse.  There are about 23 million new cases every year of this infection. While the world has been riveted to the dramatic data from HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, not much has been heard about this disease and that is despite the fact that significant loss of life of new-borns is seen in association with it.

Besides, women are far more likely to suffer from the infection than men. They are also more likely for obvious reasons, to pass the virus on to babies and children either while still in the womb or after delivery. This disease is therefore, not just one of those conditions but a significant ailment that genuinely warrants the attention of governments and health organisations everywhere in the world.