Phobic about Herpes?

Thanks for addressing this very KEY aspect of people's attitudes towards catching this infection.  However, I'd like to see something more granular than where you left off "the virus spreads via contact mucus membranes and/or broken skin".  This does liittle to alleviate anyone's out of proportion fears or worsens them as simple kissing might even come to mind or having someone sneeze microscopic droplets into the air which we all breath into our lungs.  Don't take it personally.  What you stated is what's stated in 99% of the literature I've read but here's what I'd like to know:

- What "mucous membranes" are we talking about here specifically and just what examples can be given to illustrate this?  

- Does one have to come into contact directly with an open sore who has an open break in the skin to have a best chance at infecting someone else as opposed to, say, someone without symptoms (though still possibly contagious as we know)?

- True or false - is HSV-2 more contagious than HSV-1?  If not, then why isn't the rate of infection for kissers high?

- Are there any studies to date to determine the rate of infection between couples one with and one without over spans of time, frequency etc?

IMHO, many web sites and other so called "knowledge centers" have taken a "one size fits all" to outright alarmist approach to warning those without the disease about how pervasive the disease is and how easy it is to catch it.  Not to downplay that at all but the horror photos found everywhere, for example, also add to the problem and too often don't mention that many of those photos are from extreme cases.

Perhaps we can look forward to the official "here's what we now know" kind of information many of us can use in the here and now from this great resource - Thanks.

good artical

Genital herpes was one of the most devestating things that i have every had to deal with. I was able to find some more information on Vaginal Herpes at this website. It helped me to deal with the problem.

All the best to anyone suffering from this disease, remember it may not be curable but it can be supressed, dont let it control your life!

Is not the end of the world, it may taking some getting used to but through good preventative care you can still enjoy a healthy sex life and not have to worry!

Jean lowe

vaginal herpes pictures information

People need to get a grip.

FACT: 80% have oral herpes, hsv1

FACT: 25% have genital herpes, usually hsv2 but recently more and more hsv1

FACT: The vast majority of carriers have no idea they do because they never got symptoms bad enough to notice

FACT: Of the remaining 1/3, most only break out once or twice.

FACT: The small % left over can take drugs to control it.

The only way to guarantee not getting gh is to stop having sex and oral sex. Guarantee not getting oh by not kissing anyone. Ever again. EVER.

The point is, it is simply not worth getting into a lather about. It's not worth even giving it a 2nd thought. Unless you abstain for the rest of your life, you are almost 100% sure of being exposed to it. You are almost guaranteed to get it orally and/or genitally.

The question is, are you ready to forgo sex the rest of your life? If the answer is yes, then do so and stop worrying. If the answer is no, then your odds of getting it are so high, NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, (condoms don't stop it, btw), that you are worried for nothing.

And, even if you DO get it, you are 60% likely to never even know, and if you DO get symptoms, you're likely to have very mild ones that come once and never again. IF, if you happen to be one of the unlucky few who get it recurring constantly, then you can take drugs to control it.

Stop worrying about catching it. Stop worrying about transmitting it. The only reason it affects people's lives is the fear of it, not the actual virus.