Transmitting Herpes / Transmission of Herpes

How is herpes transmitted?

Transmitting Herpes:
To infect people, the herpes simplex viruses (both HSV-1 and HSV-2) must access the body through broken skin or a mucous membrane such as inside the mouth or on the genital area. Each virus can be carried in bodily fluids (such saliva, semen, fluid in the female genital tract) or in fluid from herpes sores. The risk for infection is highest with direct contact of blisters or sores during an outbreak.

The herpes virus can be spread by direct skin-to-skin contact, especially during intimate sexual contact. This includes kissing, oral sex and contact with the genitals or anus. (Transmitting herpes) The herpes virus may sometimes be transmitted through a cut to the skin.

Once the virus has contact with the mucosal surfaces or skin wounds, it begins to replicate. The virus is then transported within nerve cells to their roots where it remains inactive (latent) for some period of time. During latent periods, the virus is not transmissible. However, at some point, it often begins to replicate again without causing symptoms (called shedding). During shedding, the virus is again transmissible through bodily fluids and can infect other people. Shedding is an especially insidious stage because there are no sores or symptoms and it possibly accounts for about a third of all HSV-2 infections.

The herpes virus can be spread during an outbreak of symptoms as the virus is contained in the blisters and sores on the skin. However, even when there are no symptoms, the herpes virus can still be present on the skin and be transmitted to other people who come into close contact.

Preventing Herpes Transmission

Transmitting Herpes Prevention:
The treatment uses RNA interference (RNAi) to fight the virus in two ways: by disabling its ability to replicate and by blocking the host cell's ability to take up the virus. In mice, the treatment is effective when used from one week before to a few hours after exposure to the herpes virus.

"As far as we could tell, the treatment caused no adverse effects, such as inflammation or any kind of autoimmune response," Judy Lieberman, a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and a senior investigator at the Immune Disease Institute, said in a Harvard news release. In addition, there was no indication that the treatment interfered with normal cellular function.

The research was published in the Jan. 22 issue of the journal Cell Host & Microbe."People have been trying to make a topical agent that can prevent transmitting herpes, a microbicide, for many years," Lieberman said. "But one of the main obstacles for this is compliance or rather non compliance.

One of the attractive features of the compound we developed is that it creates in the tissue a state that's resistant to infection, even if applied up to a week before sexual exposure. This aspect has a real practicality to it."

If the findings can be reproduced in people, she said, "this could have a powerful impact on preventing transmitting herpes." According to the World Health Organization, about 536 million people worldwide are infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), the most common strain of this (std)sexually transmitted disease.

Women are much more likely than men to be infected with (Transmitting herpes) HSV-2, and the virus can easily pass from mother to child during birth. Infants with untreated HSV-2 infection can suffer brain damage and death.

In adults, (Transmission herpes) HSV-2 infection isn't life-threatening but does increase vulnerability to other viruses, such as HIV. More information

The American Social Health Association has more about herpes.

SOURCE: Harvard Medical School, news release, Jan. 21, 2009 Prevent transmitting herpes by getting rid of it completely