Improved
6112 HealthChanged
3786 LivesSaved
3568 Lives1 lives impacted in the last 24 hrs Learn More
Approximately 20 percent of American women are infected with the genital herpes virus. OB/GYN Dr. Jennifer Wu of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York explains what you need to know about identifying and coping with genital herpes.
I'm Denise Richardson for howdini.com. What do you really know about genital herpes? Do you understand what causes herpes, how to treat it, and how to avoid it?
Here to answer those questions and more is gynecologist, Dr. Jennifer Wu. Thank you so much for being with us. What is genital herpes?
Genital herpes is caused by herpes simplex virus. And patients that have genital herpes will often have outbreaks with blisters that then break open, that become tender ulcers. Some patients may have herpes but not have these outbreaks.
How widespread is herpes in America? I hear the statistics are startling.
Well, about one in five women and one in six men are infected with herpes simplex.
And getting worse?
No, actually getting better.
So, who is most commonly affected?
Young, reproductive age men and women. Actually, more women than men. Because there's an ease of transmission from male to female.
And can you be a carrier and not know it?
People have been infected and not had the outbreaks and unknowingly transmitted it to a partner.
Can genital herpes ever be cured?
It isn't curable with the medicines that we have today. But we do have medication to shorten outbreaks and help to lessen the severity of symptoms.
And so, it's reoccurring?
It can be. It can be. Some patients may never have an outbreak their entire life, even though they've been infected. Some patients may have one outbreak. And unfortunately, some patients may have several outbreaks.
And so, how do you treat it?
So for a first outbreak, patients will usually go to the doctor, and we'll give them oral medication and sometimes some topical creams to help ease the pain of the symptoms and to help shorten the duration of symptoms. If a patient has frequent outbreaks or very painful outbreaks, then we'll talk about suppression therapy, meaning a daily pill to help keep away those outbreaks and to help shorten the duration of outbreaks when they do occur.
And how long does it take for the blisters to heal and for them actually to go away?
It can take as long as two weeks before they completely heal and go away. During that time, patients should avoid sexual contact.
How is genital herpes transmitted?
It's usually by skin to skin contact, usually during sexual intercourse. We do know that one third of genital herpes is actually caused by herpes simplex type one, which is the type that's associated with cold sores or fever blisters. It's very common. And it can be transmitted through oral sex.
Unfortunately, patients can also shed virus occasionally when they're not having outbreak, or right before an outbreak. And they can thus infect their partners that way.
When it comes to genital herpes, are there gradations of the disease from the simplest form to the most difficult?
Patients may be tested at some point or another in their life, just when they're having an STD work up and find out they're infected, but they've never had an outbreak.
Other patients may have one outbreak that they seek treatment for it, and then they never see another outbreak their entire life. Unfortunately, the large majority of patients will have a few outbreaks, and they'll be quite painful. They involve blisters that open up to be tender sores.
Are they most likely to have it reoccurring in that way for the rest of their lives, or for just periods in their lives?
Usually, the first year is the worst, when you have the most frequent number of outbreaks. And then, the outbreaks tend to decrease with severity and in the number of outbreaks as you progress.
For the majority of women who have genital herpes, what can happen?
Well, actually the most serious consequences are probably when the woman is pregnant. Because if she gets an infection with herpes during pregnancy, she could transmit it to her baby. Usually, when women have an outbreak in the genital region during labor, we advise them to have a C-section because that'll be safer and help to decrease transmission to the infant.
And the infant, if it's born and has genital herpes, what would the impact be on that infant?
It can be very serious. They can get a meningitis. They can get a really serious infection from it.
Dr. Wu, thank you so much for being with us. I'm Denise Richardson for howdini.com.
Howdini is life’s little instruction manual, in HD. We’re all about bringing together the top, most respected experts in their fields to help us be the best we can be at all of the little and not-so-little challenges of our complicated lives. Howdini is the place to be for the know-how you want, when you need it. Or maybe it’s the know-how you need, when you want it. Whatever. We’re here to help. So come in and look around, won’t you?
We think you’ll love finding everything you want to learn about in one convenient place, and as we grow and add more categories and more Howdinis, you’ll be doing less surfing and more learning right here. And unlike television, Howdinis aren’t limited by time—we don’t have to break for commercials, and we’re always on.
Who is Howdini?
People often ask us, is there an actual person who is Howdini? And the answer is, it’s kind of like Lassie. Just as there were many Lassies, there are many individuals who are called Howdini. In fact, each of our experts is a Howdini, and, like all those Lassies, they really know their tricks. (Although so far there is no ‘How to tell your master that Timmy is trapped in the old abandoned mine’ segment)
Our gurus are people you know and trust because you’ve been getting advice from them for years, at places like Good Morning America, The Today Show, Money, Prevention, and Food and Wine (to name just a few). Many are best-selling authors. Others, like our medical experts, are respected leaders in their fields.
Howdini History
The first Howdini was Joanna Breen, who left a comfortable career at ABC’s 20/20 to create a how to video website after one too many frustrating experiences with handymen who weren’t that handy. Joanna had traveled the world reporting with Barbara Walters and others on injustice, outrage, and tragedy, but now it was time to turn her talents to dealing with crises closer to home, like what do you do if you drop your diamond ring down the drain. Joanna is the quintessential can-do girl, so she didn’t find the prospect of launching a gigantic website the least bit daunting. (Ok, that last part isn’t entirely true.)
Joanna convinced an old ABC News buddy, Shelley Lewis, to join her. Shelley had supervised roughly 9.7 million helpful how to segments during a long career executive producing television shows like Good Morning America and CNN’s American Morning. A self-described “info-pig” who loves all kinds of information programming, she is never happier than when she’s learning an amazing new tip that she can annoy share with everyone she knows. Needless to say, Howdini was a dream gig for her. A career woman, a wife, a mother, and author of two books, Shelley considers herself equally challenged by all the facets of her life.
Joanna and Shelley were introduced to marketing executive Alison Provost by a mutual friend who knew that Alison had what they needed - entrepreneurial experience, patience, and a checkbook that still had checks in it. Joanna and Shelley could see right away that Alison should join Howdini. They figured that they would take care of the programming, and Alison would bring trustworthy sponsors to help pay the bills. It took Alison significantly longer to be convinced, maybe because she was crazy busy running a marketing firm called PowerPact, which she continues to oversee while serving as the biggest of big cheeses at Howdini. But whether it’s playing Suduko or launching a new business in a field she knows little about, Alison loves the challenge of a good puzzle, It wasn’t long before she began dropping obscure internet terms like “user-interface” and “googlebot” into casual conversation.
What’s Next for Howdini?
Our goals are modest. Complete and total domination of the internet, crushing Google, Microsoft, and any other punks who get in our way. (Hey, it’s a just a goal.) But until then, we will content ourselves making the best, most professional, most credible how to videos you can find anywhere. We want to help you solve your career issues, your parenting problems, your money troubles. We want you to be more glamorous, healthier, and less stressed out. We want you to check Howdini every day for fun, interesting, useful advice from experts you know and trust.
We want to make Howdini the community you love to be part of every day, To do that, we need to hear from you. Please share your suggestions, rate and comment on the Howdini videos, and the blog, (The Howdini blog). Tell us what you’d like us to create for you.
And then, when we’ve achieved that, it’s back to working on complete and total domination of the internet.
Add a CommentComments
There are no comments yet. Be the first one and get the conversation started!