Re: herpes
From: ainsron@msn.com
Thu Mar 23 14:04:25 2000
Is this really "new" News to any Ob/Gyn? We were taught the same message
in my residency program (75-79), I've always told my herpes patients the
same and I have never seen anything published to dispute it!
> Study Disproves Myths About Herpes
>
> By LINDA A. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
>
> People infected with genital herpes can spread it even between flare-ups
>when they have no symptoms, researchers suggest in a study
> published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
>
> Until recently, patients and most doctors thought people with herpes could
>safely have unprotected sex when they had no symptoms,
> which can include painful, oozing blisters, ulcers and fissures and
>tingling and burning. Most doctors advised patients to abstain from
> sex during flare-ups, but some said sex with a condom was OK.
>
> In their study of the incurable, widespread virus, University of
>Washington researchers found herpes present in genital secretions even
> when patients didn't notice any symptoms.
>
> ``The message from this study is first to encourage people who might be at
>risk for genital herpes to be tested and, No. 2, they should
> abstain during outbreaks and use condoms at all other times,'' said Dr.
>Anna Wald, an assistant professor in the department of medicine
> and epidemiology.
>
> Genital herpes, usually caused by the herpes simplex virus type 2, lurks
>in about one-fourth of U.S. adults, although only an estimated
> 20 percent of them know it.
>
> Herpes is spread through sexual contact when it enters the body through
>tiny passages in the skin. The virus lies dormant in nerves at
> the base of the spinal cord until something triggers an outbreak.
>Flare-ups generally last for a few days.
>
> There is no cure, but drugs can
>reduce the severity and frequency of flare-ups.
>
> While herpes isn't fatal, the sores
>can make it easier to become infected with the
> AIDS virus. Without precautions,
>herpes can be transmitted during childbirth,
> infecting the baby and sometimes
>causing brain damage or death.
>
> Wald's team studied 53 men and women
>who were unaware they had the virus until it
> was spotted in a blood test on a routine visit to a medical clinic in
>Seattle. Those patients were then asked to participate in the study,
> along with another 90 clinic patients with a history of symptoms.
>
> Each swabbed specimens from around the anus and genitals daily for three
>months and kept a diary of symptoms.
>
> Both groups had the virus present in secretions at the same rate on
>symptom-free days: about 3 percent, or one day a month on
> average.
>
> The researchers also found that men were potentially infectious at the
>same rate as women when no symptoms were noticeable,
> disproving the myth men can't spread the virus while symptom-free.
>
> Dr. Judith Wasserheit, head of sexually transmitted disease prevention at
>the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the
> study confirms other research but brings some good news: ``It is possible
>to learn how to recognize many of your symptoms and to use
> that knowledge to help protect your partner.''
>
>--
>_______________________
>Geffrey H. Klein, MD
>_______________________
>geffrey.klein@obgyn.net
>200 Medical Center Blvd Suite 103
>Webster, TX 77598
>(281) 332 6723
>
>http://www.geffreyklein.com
>
--
Ronald E. Ainsworth, MD
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