Herpes HSV – Causes, Symptoms and Diagnosis
El herpes simple es una infección viral causada por una de las variantes del virus HSV. Hay 8 tipos de virus Herpes, de los cuales HSV 1 y HSV 2 son los más comunes. Un brote del virus del herpes conduce al herpes labial, que puede ocurrir en los genitales y la boca a lo largo de las vías nerviosas. Herpes genital se refiere a una infección genital por el virus del herpes simple. Herpes Zoster o Shingles es causado por un virus diferente llamado Varicella Zoster (VZV). ¡Los pacientes con herpes simple tienen de 3 a 4 veces más probabilidades de contraer el VIH y esta nueva información ha hecho que el tratamiento oportuno del herpes oral y genital sea más necesario!
El virus del herpes tiene una capacidad extraordinaria para residir en los ganglios nerviosos detrás de la barrera hematoencefálica en un lugar donde el sistema inmunológico no puede acceder a ella. Esta es la razón por la que ha eludido completamente una cura de estilo occidental ya que ninguna medicina puede llegar a ella mientras yace dormido.
Etapas de la infección por herpes
El virus del herpes tiende a permanecer latente al esconderse en los ganglios nerviosos y produce brotes cuando se compromete la inmunidad. Las etapas de las infecciones por herpes son las siguientes:
Primary stage: Within 2-8 days of infection, the virus starts off as small, red, painful and fluid filled blisters. These blisters form sores when they break open and eventually dry up.
Latent stage: In this stage there are no symptoms at all as the virus travels to the nerve ganglia.
Shedding stage: Once the virus reaches the nerve ganglia, it starts multiplying and invades body fluids such as semen, vaginal fluids and saliva. These fluids are responsible for shedding or transmitting the virus and hence this stage is known as the “Shedding stage”.
Síntomas de herpes
Oral herpes (Mostly caused by HSV 1) is characterized by red, fluid filled blisters on the lips, mouth and tongue. There is severe pain, tingling, difficulty in eating and swallowing accompanied by fever.
Genital herpes (Mostly caused by HSV 2) is characterized by reddish, fluid filled blisters around the genitals which bursts open to form sores or ulcers. These blisters when present in the genital region result in painful micturation and causes pain while passing stools (if present in the anal region). Other symptoms include headache, bodyache and fever and are prevalent in both men and women.
Please note that both HSV 1 and HSV 2 can cause both genital and oral herpes.
Chicken pox (Caused by Varicella zoster) is characterized by rash, general malaise and low grade fever. In 2-3 days, the rash forms in to vesicular eruption and cause severe itching. After 5-6 days, these eruptions turn into scabs. Rashes appear all over the body except for the palms and soles. Once afflicted with chicken pox, the body develops a natural immunity and the virus remains dormant in the human body.
Cytomegalovirusis a herpetic virus associated with the salivary glands. It affects immune – compromised individuals, such as new born infants, organ transplant recipients and HIV patients. It causes vision problems, diarrhea, infection of the stomach and could even be fatal.
Roseola (caused by Human herpes virus 6 and Human herpes virus 7) is characterized by skin rash and high fever in the pediatric age group. This infection could lead to convulsions in children.
Infectious Mononucleosis (caused by Epstein-Barr virus) is characterized by fever, sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, body-ache, headache and swollen tonsils. A person may remain symptomless even when infected.
Diagnóstico de herpes
Your physician may preliminary diagnose Herpes by looking at your sores. He or she may then take a sample of the cells in the sore and send it to a lab for a cell culture. Doctors then may recommend blood tests to confirm the presence of the Virus. Specific tests for blood and fluid from eruptions may be conducted to determine whether the infection is due to HSV1 or HSV2. The most common type of blood test done for the herpes virus are the antibody tests that look for antibodies that your body has created to fight the virus. We always have antibodies for anything we have been infected with. There are now more accurate PCR DNA tests that look for the actual virus in the blood and our Doctors recommend taking PCR DNA tests to find out if the actual virus is left in your blood stream or not.
