cavanami Posted October 6, 2009 Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 It is all about your immune system. If you are up to it, you do not get infected. Many ways to get your immune system up to the task. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardinalblue Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 I don't agree with what you are saying.. What is the difference between what I am saying "the person is active and doesn't know it" and what you are saying "the person is infectious and shows no symptoms" Unless you are saying the person is continuously infectious (my definition is active) every day of the year in which the person shows no signs but shedding? I agree there is a finite period in which a person is infectious and may not demonstate any signs...But you make it sound like the person is infectious all the time. When, not if, the virus has retreated into the CNS, the person is no longer infectious. Shedding occurs when the virus is active and person can be labeled as infectious. The period of infection comes and goes... My argumant would be this is not the case. There is an infectious period with a start date and ending date and shedding just doesn't run indefinately but within this window of infectiousness regardless of whether the person has signs or not... Your counterpoint... CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 The counterpoint is you do not know when the person is in an infectious period! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted October 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 The counterpoint is you do not know when the person is in an infectious period! I would be pretty certain you would by the small blisters evident in the genital area. Having said that the OP was about could you control the condition without telling a partner. And I guess the answer is yes. I think you guys are using a different person to make your point. In CB's case he is talking about someone who is aware and is responsible and in shygye's example a person who is either not aware he is a carrier or just doesn't give a fark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardinalblue Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 First of all, most people know when they are active. That is far more common than not knowing. Fortunately with herpes, it has great warning properties. It you read the literature, it says it is possible the person exhibits no symptoms during an outbreak. It would be a big deal if this was a common occurence but it is not. The issue with herpes is because the most of the time the symptoms are painful (various degrees) and most importantly evident so that genital herpes isn't running around unchecked. Sure, you have the idiot person who knows they are experiencing an outbreak and continues to expose/infect people. But the average person will self-regulate their behavior during a known outbreak.. The whole issue was to the question the poster asked, should I treat this person as infectious all the time and never have sex? Pretty silly if they person is active for on average of two weeks a year (2 outbreaks) and the average person will communicate nor want to have sex during an outbreak. You have further reduced that small window of an infectious person not knowing they are having an outbreak... As I said, with your response, better to walk everywhere than get in that car if you want to avoid an auto fatality. Buw you have the risk of a hit and run. Oh well, there is always monkhood but then you priests and sexual predators. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardinalblue Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 I think the great majority of people know they have a problem because the intial outbreak is regarded as the worst and usually with obvious signs.. As to a carrier, yes the person can be asymtomatic during an outbreak and thus transmit not knowingly. But if the carrier does not have an outbreak, he is not infectious.. The issue of not knowing if they are experiencing an outbreak is far greater for females as their outbreak can be hidden from sight as opposed to males... It all gets back to treating Herpes as a manageable disease and how to assess the risks and the probabilities.. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 You missed my point, which is that Herpes is so wide spread in the general population that everyone that has had multiple partners has been exposed. One survey in Sweden found that 25% of the population below the age of 30 was infected. Really no reason to avoid a person with herpes. Some people NEVER exhibit symptoms but are carriers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardinalblue Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Not if his partners are not infectious at the time of contact. You are basically making an assumption based on playing with numbers not decisions. Some people don't sleep with high risk groups, etc. How can you prove that people with multiple partners in their lifestime have been exposed to herpes? You need to clarify people into high risk and low risk groups before making broad-based statements.. I don't think we disgree that some carriers don't experience symptoms. A herpes carrier is not the same as HIV carrier. A herpes carrier is only infectious during an outbreak which ranges on average from 0 to 4 times a year. Research indicates an average outbreak from 7 to 10 days. So worst case scenario, this carrier is infectious only 40 days a year. How do you label this carrier the other 325 days a year? This carrier poses no threat of a transmission if he or she is not active. The real danger is the not knowing when he or she is infectious given he or she is asymptomatic. Remember, this whole issue was how to handle a herpes person with regard to sexual relations.. If you are a health professional, you are doing a disservice to the public if you do not articulate what is meant by a carrier and explain infectious and non-infectious periods.. To say he ia a herpes carrier who never experience symptoms is a very misleading staement if your point is to educate rather than scare. T The average dumbshit on the street (no confidence in genral public) will assume/believe he can get herpes from that person 24/7. Do you beleive this? I am not diagreeing with your staements, only what inferences are made from them without articulating conditions and clarifications.. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 [color:green]A herpes carrier is only infectious during an outbreak which ranges on average from 0 to 4 times a year. Research indicates an average outbreak from 7 to 10 days[/color] You are still confusing being infectious and having symptoms, "outbreak". The 0 to 4 times a year are for having herpes symptoms, ie, reddening and blisters. A carrier can still be infectious and have no symptoms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardinalblue Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 One must be active to have viral shedding whether or not there are other symptoms. Viral shedding ONLY occurs when the virus has traveled to the surface thus the definition of an outbreak or the infectious period. Outbreak (viral shedding included) and infectiousness are synonomous. Again, agree that one can be infectious due to viral shedding with no noticeable symptoms. Unfortuanely, it is probably more common than with symptoms. But that doesn't change the fact that infectiousness can only occur when the virus is awaken from its dormant state. Some literature does not refer to viral shedding as a symptom but others call it an unnoticeable sign/symptom even though the person doesn't know when the viral shedding is occurring because of the lack of other noticeable symptoms.. What one fears is the unknown duration of the active or infectious period. And that is where the literature varies greatly on how long does an episode of infectiousness lasts? Viral shedding might or might not be part of an infectious/active stage as well as the presence or lack of symptoms. Would like to hear what infectious rate numbers (i.e active virus) you tend to gravitate to? You do make it sound like one is infectious on a continuous basis and that would be open to debate. If that was the case, I would think the 25% infected rate that HCPs throw around would be much higher in the general population and definately in selected sub-populations. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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