Herpes Symptoms - Symptoms of an Initial Herpes Outbreak

Herpes is generally considered a sexually transmitted disease but oral herpes (cold sores on or around the mouth) can be transmitted rather easily with casual contact that includes sharing eating utensils, an affectionate kiss from Aunt Martha or even from hand to mouth.

The virus travels from skin to skin and enters the body through an open area or crack in the skin or through the mucosa of the mouth or genital area.

Because the transmission is so easy it is no wonder that recent studies have shown that the rate of infection of HSV-1 (cold sores, fever blisters) runs around 98% in a healthy population. This rate of infection takes into account all who were shedding the virus, even if they didn’t know they had it!

By contrast, the HSV-2 virus, responsible for genital herpes infections, has a rate of approximately 25% in the U.S. Genital herpes is more common in women than men because the mucus membranes of the women’s sexual organs are easier to penetrate than a man’s. There are about 45 million Americans who have genital herpes.

Symptoms of an initial herpes outbreak can vary from person to person. Some people have severe symptoms and others have such mild symptoms that they don’t equate the symptoms with herpes.

Commonly a herpes initial outbreak happens within 2 weeks of having the sexual contact with an infected person. These initial sores can last from two to three weeks and include symptoms such as:

  • An itching or burning feeling at the site of the outbreak around the vagina, penis or anus
  • Flu like symptoms and fever
  • Swollen glands
  • Pain in the legs, buttocks, or genital area
  • Vaginal discharge
  • Feeling of abdominal pressure

Within days of the initial symptoms a sore or sores (otherwise known as lesions) will show up where the virus entered the body. These sores can show up around the vagina, penis, anus or on the cervix or the urinary passage in a man.

These lesions start as small red bumps that turn into blisters then painful open sores or ulcerations. Over a period of days or a week these sores crust over and heal without any scar tissue.

After the herpes initial outbreak a person may experience more outbreaks and generally these become less severe and have greater periods of time between outbreaks.

There is no cure for herpes. The infection will stay in the body forever, retreating into the body along a nerve tract.

An initial genital herpes infection will be most severe because the body doesn’t have any immunity or antibodies to protect it against the infection. Once the body has the chance to produce antibodies the severity of the infection will decrease.

People who have problems with their immune system, such as those with AIDS, cancer or organ transplants, will find that herpes infections become very severe and are painful.

The most recent research shows that although you may not have any external symptoms or signs, you can still pass the infection along to another person.

Using condoms will decrease the chances of getting or passing genital herpes to a partner. The drug Valtrex can also be used to lower the chances of passing the virus during vaginal sex.

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