“Is herpes serious?”
I was diagnosed with genital herpes. Is herpes serious?
5 Answers
Please speak with your family doctor for STD facilities who could provide you with information and guide you. Support groups are very helpful as well. Never be ashamed. We are all here to help.
Good day, if left untreated, it can be serious, tissue damaging, and easy to spread. Taking care of the condition by telling your doctor and treating it with the appropriate medications as prescribed is the best way to handle outbreaks.
It is definitely a life changing diagnosis. You can pass it to someone at any time regardless if you are having an outbreak or not. It’s the STI that never goes away.
Herpes is a virus that is transmitted through skin to skin contact. Which means you cannot transfer it to anyone unless you have an active genital ulcer HSV-2 or an active oral ulcer HSV-1. 80% of patients never show any active ulcers which is why patients usually are not concerned but will test positive for it. Patients that should receive treatment are patients with active lesions or patients that have HIV concurrently.
It is not serious but you should use caution because of it. It's a virus that will shed and if you are sexually active your partner should be aware of the diagnosis because it can shed and you may or may not be symptomatic.
