Is genital herpes bad?

Genital herpes is caused by two viruses, herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 and type 2. HSV-1 also causes cold sores or fever blisters around the mouth, “but the disease trends have changed over time and now they can both cause genital sores,” says Talia Swartz, MD, assistant professor of infectious diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. read more

Genital herpes may cause painful genital ulcers that can be severe and persistent in persons with suppressed immune systems, such as HIV-infected persons. 5 Both HSV-1 and HSV-2 can also cause rare but serious complications such as aseptic meningitis (inflammation of the linings of the brain). read more

Genital herpes usually comes from the virus called herpes simplex-2 (HSV-2). Its cousin, HSV-1, is what gives you cold sores. You can get HSV-2 from someone whether they have symptoms or not. read more

Number 3: It has no cure, and the three main antivirals prescribed for genital herpes — Valtrex (valcyclovir), acyclovir, and famcyclovir — may help you, or may not help you at all. These drugs, even in their maximum dosages, had absolutely no benefit to healing or preventing my genital herpes outbreaks. read more