I was reading up on all the STD's and didn't know how common oral herpes is! I read from one site that around up to 80% or less of the population is infected. And the common name for it is a cold sore! Wow I had no idea that a cold sore was a sort o herpes!!! Now this makes me paranoid but I'm not going to let it bother me to much. They say that the best way not to give it to others is not to kiss them! OMG how awful is that, not being able to kiss anyone anymore because you don't want to infect them! Even if you give your partner oral pleasure it can cause genital herpes! I forgot what STD is the most common now a days but I believe it is herpes now that I have read this! Does anyone have anymore information on this or would like to add to it?
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Oral herbes
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Cold sores are indeed due to a herpes virus, but there are two strains - one that prefers the mouth, and the other that prefers the genitals. You can pass the mouth version to the genitals and the genital version to the mouth, but they give milder versions of the disease, with less common outbreaks, when they are not in their preferred location. Nevertheless an appreciable number of cold sores on the mouth are in fact the genital strain, so you have to be careful.In either location, the disease has outbreaks, with times in between when the virus is quiet. During outbreaks infectivity is very high, but outside these times infectivity is low. If you avoid kissing and oral sex when there is an actual cold sore outbreak (or it can be felt coming or has just gone), and only kiss and have oral sex at other times, the chance of passing it on is very low, though not zero.
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Ok that sounds reasonable. I can’t imagine having oral herpes and not being able to kiss anyone anymore. I think kissing is a very important human affection. Do you agree with that statistic that up to 80% or less of the population has oral herpes? That is a little bit scary!
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My sister tends to get cold sores a lot. Isn't that an indication that she has the herpes simplex virus. If so, is it the I or the II? I've never had a cold sore, so I wouldn't know.
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Usually HSV I
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Ok so I've been worried if I had an STD and my doc told me today that I have oral herpes. From what I've read it's very common. I've been concerned because I have red bumps in my pubic area (as can be seen in my current posts). Now I'm going to that doc tomorrow to see if I have oral herpes in the genital area. Firstly they told me it was a staff infection so I'm hoping it IS that and not herpes down there. Is there a way to test oral herpes in your mouth? I was also wonder how common is outbreaks in the genital area with oral herpes? If anyone has an answer to that last question, mostly, please please let me know cause I want to know if I'll have to take medication for the rest of my life or not! Also what are the chances that my test coming up positive for oral herpes can actually be wrong and I could be negative? Gotta hope for the best!
So does anyone have any advice to tell my partners that I have this? Should I tell them how common it is so they don't freak out? How do i go about dealing with this when I have future partners? Should I just tell them straight up or what? I think this STD is really going to effect my sexual life. Or should I not worry about it and just look at it as a common thing like the chickenpox?
Any or all answer to my questions would be very much appreciated! :smile: HELP!
-scared and confused
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I think people see the word "herpes" and just freak out. Herpes is just a family of viruses.
If it makes you feel better, chicken pox and mono (the kissing disease) as also caused by the herpes virus, and those people do not need medication throughhout their life.
Oral herpes are very common, cold sores are oral herpes. They come and go. (the herpes viruses live in cell nuclei for years) You might want to treat them if HSV-1 is showing up in your genital area though, which is becomming very common since unprotected oral sex is on the rise.
I wouldn't worry, if the doctor said it was a Staph infection then it probably it. Though staph infections can be nasty and painful, but are easily treated with antibiotics.
About your partner... it would be the right thing to say something, especially when you're having an outbreak, which in that case you shouldn't be having mouth to mouth-anal-genital contact, in any combo.
Since the test for herpes, I assume is testing for the presence of the viral DNA, a false negative would only arise due to human error.
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If it makes you feel better, chicken pox and mono (the kissing disease) as also caused by the herpes virus, and those people do not need medication throughout their life.What? The chicken pox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus. Upon doing a search on your "claim," I found no such connection between that and herpes. Have a look.http://www.cdc.gov/nip/diseases/varicella/faqs-gen-disease.htm#1-Whatis
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ClassyBlackWoman is correct: chickenpox and mononucleosis are caused by different viruses. Like Herpes Simplex Virus, the Varicella-Zoster Virus that causes chickenpox does have the property of writing copies of itself into infected cells' DNA, beyond the reach of the immune system, so the virus stays for life. The chickenpox illness is only temporary, but the virus can break out later as the disease called shingles.
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Wikipedia, Varicella zoster virus entry, first sentence:In reply to:The Varicella zoster virus (VZV), also known as human herpes virus 3 (HHV-3), is one of the eight herpes viruses known to affect humans (and other vertebrates).
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Interesting - the HHV classification seems to refer to a family of viruses with some common features - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_herpes_virus. However in normal speech I think when people say "herpes virus" they are referring to the HSV viruses. The taxonomy (see end of article) puts VZV in a different genus to HSV.
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I agree, but shingles used to be called (and still is, in some quarters) herpes zoster, even though it's caused by the hyphenated varicella-zoster virus.
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"However in normal speech I think when people say "herpes virus" they are referring to the HSV viruses"That's the problem, when they hear "herpes" they freak. I was trying to take the edge off it. Herpes viruses are very common, like I said. And if this kid is afraid of having HSV-1 and all he thinks about is "omg, HERPES!" there's really no good reason to freak out. Oral herpes are common, other herpes viruses are common. The only thing that people should be worried about is HSV-2, or HSV-1 spreading to the genitals.Of course this is in healthy people, if you are immunocompremised that's a whole other story.
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Well, comparing herpes to chicken pox doesn't take the edge off. Just tell that to anyone who's suffering from it.
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Well, on the whole, I happen to prefer having the "cold sores" on my butt cheek! At least, unless I tell, no one knows it but me. Anyone who knows anything about it knows that the sores on a persons mouth are herpes, and in my case that is worse...Its a public announcement when your having a break out that you have it...IDK, just my opinion.
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Does anyone have any tips on what I can do? My bumps are spreading upward towards my navel and I even got one right by it. How can I prevent it from spreading? Maybe it's the waist line from my pants that is spreading it. Would peroxide be a good idea to clean it? Any tips would be helpful.
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I don't suppose peroxide would be bad, but it could sting a bit. It has been a few days, do the antibiotics seem to be helping?
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Well I’ve been putting peroxide on my bumps but it doesn’t sting at all. They don’t even hurt at all either. Well they seem to still be spreading and I don’t know what to do! Well the antibiotics didn’t seem to work. I don’t know, but my penis doesn’t sting that much anymore. I finished the last of that medication for my UTI yesterday. My side pains seems to be pretty much almost gone with just a little bit of uncomfortableness here and there.
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Well, make sure your drinking LOTS of water for the UTI to clear up. Especially if your a bit uncomfortable right now. If it continues, go back.You know though, an over the counter antifungal cream wouldn't hurt your rash. Might be worth the try just in case it is yeast.
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Oh ya, I haven't tried it, but I hear Gel Kam helps..its like a super floride for your teeth, and you have to get it from the counter at a drug store...I would have tried it, but I am too afraid to ask the pharmacist...lol, I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face. Yeah, uh, I need some toothpaste for my ass...
Anyway...I can't imagine it would hurt to try!