Genital and Oral Herpes
The two most common diseases that derive from the herpes virus are oral herpes, also known as herpes labialis, and genital herpes or herpes genitalis. Research has found that the two are different from each other, both in their symptoms and in the incubation period. The transmission is, however, common to both of them, meaning both are transmitted when a healthy person comes into direct physical contact with one who is infected and showing symptoms of the disease, however mild they appear to be.
It was a widespread belief that these two types of herpes were not interchangeable in their area of action. It was therefore stated that herpes simplex 1 or oral herpes occurred above the waist, while herpes simplex2 or genital herpes occurred bellow it. Recent studies, however, have shown this not to be necessarily true. Oral sex and other sexual activities may have lead to the two variations of the disease appearing in each other’s normal area of occurrence. This was mainly a topical observation based on the incubation period of the disease in the research’s focus group, which makes some people contest that maybe the results aren’t 100% accurate. It’s not, however, entirely out of the question, especially when there’s a faction of the medical establishment that believes that genital herpes simply did not exist until oral sex practices became more common, at which point the virus mutated in order to be able to infect his newly exposed area of the body.
Herpes simplex 2, the genital kind, is officially considered a venereal disease. And as such, its dissemination can be stopped by the practice of safe sex, mainly by use of a condom. But there are still risks involved when having sex with someone that is a host to the virus. First of all, some people tend to think that the disease is not contagious if you’re not experiencing signs of it. But even with no visible outbreaks of the disease it can still be contagious. Another issue is the area that is affected by genital herpes. It is becoming increasingly common that the infection spreads not only across the vagina and the penis; there are not more cases of it affecting the anal region as well. The main issue when you suffer from the disease is to be responsible about it. Engaging in unprotected sex when you’re a knowing carrier of the herpes virus and not letting your partner know about it can make you liable for a lawsuit or even prison.
