herpes the new blah

[Guest]

This weekend I was a guest with a large family that is very close knit. They are always together, share their food, eat from each others plates, etc.

The catch is that most of them have oral herpes. The virus that causes cold sores, not the STD.

As they shared food with the baby I could not help but squeal. Why condemn the poor thing to a life of misery, if he is still clean of the disease?

As a child I would not eat broken cookies cause they made me suspicious. So, ok, I am a little OCD about this.

Is oral herpes now something everyone has got?

wondering,

Maharat

 

[matriarch]

This weekend I was a guest with a large family that is very close knit. They are always together, share their food, eat from each others plates, etc.

The catch is that most of them have oral herpes. The virus that causes cold sores, not the STD.

As they shared food with the baby I could not help but squeal. Why condemn the poor thing to a life of misery, if he is still clean of the disease?

As a child I would not eat broken cookies cause they made me suspicious. So, ok, I am a little OCD about this.

Is oral herpes now something everyone has got?

wondering,

Maharat

NO!!!!!!!!!

They are being completely irresponsible.

 

[Liar]

Is oral herpes now something everyone has got?

Erm... I sure hope not. I might wanna make out with one of those 'everyone' some day.

 

[Vermilion]

Did they have *active* cold sores at the time?

x
V

 

[S-Des]

I've had it (the oral kind) since I was a kid . . . I don't have a clue how I got it. When I have a breakout (I get a coldsore about once a year or two), I refuse to kiss my daughter or let her touch anything I might have touched with my mouth. I've been careful to never expose anyone to it, even though I think most people have it by now. It's incredibly irresponsible to expose anyone to anything that is contagious, let alone something that isn't curable.

 

[McKenna]

Crikey. I never knew oral herpes was such a big freakin deal. Seriously.

Like S-Des, I've had cold sores since I was a child. So has my sister. I suspect we probably got them from my mother. To me, it seemed like a part of life. A big pain-in-the-ass part of life, but still.

I've noticed that I get a cold sore when my immune system has been compromised, i.e., when I get dehydrated. Because of this, I'm very careful to keep my water intake at optimum levels, especially when I'm camping or when I know I will be outside for long periods of time in the sun.

I've been with Mr. McK for eight years now. He has never had a cold sore. I can only surmise he hasn't contracted herpes from me, or if he has, he's only a carrier.

If I had known how much of a pariah I'd be made to feel because I get cold sores, I'd have hidden in my house for every single outbreak. Good God, folks. Let up already! I'd say a good portion of people have gotten oral herpes exactly like maharat described: parent to child.

Oy!


P.S. Des, (and anyone else with cold sores), lysine, lysine, lysine. It's not "medically acknowledged" as of yet, but it does help prevent outbreaks. You can buy it in the vitamin/supplements section. I usually take it when I feel like my immune system could be compromised. Also, if you take it when you get the "tingle", it makes it go away. It also helps reduce the healing time of a cold sore once it's out.

 

[MagicaPractica]

My aunt has oral herpes and has always just taken sensible precautions not to pass it on to us. It's just silly not to.

 

[Stella_Omega]

NO!!!!!!!!!

They are being completely irresponsible.

Agreed!

One of the horrors that will always stay with me is one woman who was going to birth in water no matter what-- she had active herpes and refused to have a c-section. That poor, poor suffering baby...

 

[Guest]

Agreed!

One of the horrors that will always stay with me is one woman who was going to birth in water no matter what-- she had active herpes and refused to have a c-section. That poor, poor suffering baby...

Oh, but that is genital herpes, and what you describe is child endangerment. I don't think the authorities could do a thing about her c-section, though they could easily threaten to take the child for her.

Maharat

 

[Stella_Omega]

Oh, but that is genital herpes, and what you describe is child endangerment. I don't think the authorities could do a thing about her c-section, though they could easily threaten to take the child for her.

Maharat

Herpes 1 and 2 can infect either the mouth or the genitals-- the herpes virus travels along the nerve pathways into the spine to live, and migrates back along those same paths to reproduce (ew) The paths from the mouth and the genitals respectively, go to different points along the spinal column, which tends to keep the virus manifestation in one spot...

This baby had herpes everywhere, down her throat, in her eyes, on her palms and soles.

 

[Guest]

Poor thing

Herpes 1 and 2 can infect either the mouth or the genitals-- the herpes virus travels along the nerve pathways into the spine to live, and migrates back along those same paths to reproduce (ew) The paths from the mouth and the genitals respectively, go to different points along the spinal column, which tends to keep the virus manifestation in one spot...

This baby had herpes everywhere, down her throat, in her eyes, on her palms and soles.

That is one crazy mother.

|Maharat

 

[Stella_Omega]

That is one crazy mother.

|Maharat

And as you point out, the doctor's could not legally force her to have the C-sec.

And at the time, there were no treatments.

And taking the child away from her would have been so after-the-fact.

I dunno...

 

[MagicaPractica]

Crikey. I never knew oral herpes was such a big freakin deal. Seriously.

Like S-Des, I've had cold sores since I was a child. So has my sister. I suspect we probably got them from my mother. To me, it seemed like a part of life. A big pain-in-the-ass part of life, but still.

If I had known how much of a pariah I'd be made to feel because I get cold sores, I'd have hidden in my house for every single outbreak. Good God, folks. Let up already! I'd say a good portion of people have gotten oral herpes exactly like maharat described: parent to child.

I don't tend to think of it as a big deal, it never has been with my aunt. Simple and sensible precautions are reasonable though, like not kissing during an outbreak or sharing dishes. If it's a pain in the ass, you wouldn't want to pass it on, right?

 

[Belegon]

Yeah, I wouldn't want to make anyone feel bad, but I don't want the cold sores either...

...talk about a dillema. What if I finally meet McK and want to kiss her and she has a cold sore active? *groan* maybe I would just hope she let me kiss her somewhere else *devil*...

Stella's story... that makes me want to beat down on someone. To me that just violates every principle of medical ethhics I can even think of... a person's "rights" end at the place where they do harm to another. And no, your newborn child is NOT you. They are a seperate person and deserve to be respected as such.

 

[R. Richard]

This is quite a bit off topic, but I think relevant.

There was a woman, named Mary. She was a cook for a fancy New York City family and outbreaks of typhoid fever were finally traced to her. Mary was a carrier. She had no symtoms of typhoid fever and seemed quite healthy. She was indignant when the health people told her that she was a carrier. The uneducated mary could see that she wasn't sick and she wasn't going to give up her job as a cook. The health people finally had to forcibly confine her to a small island in New York Bay for the rest of her life. This last despite the fact that Mary knew she wasn't sick.

Lots of people are at least low level carriers of certain diseases. Frequently they take no precautions at all, because they have just a few symptoms and then they are healthy again. Of course, they have a resistance to the disease, built up over a lifetime. Others don't.

 

[McKenna]

I don't tend to think of it as a big deal, it never has been with my aunt. Simple and sensible precautions are reasonable though, like not kissing during an outbreak or sharing dishes. If it's a pain in the ass, you wouldn't want to pass it on, right?

I never said anything about NOT taking precautions, Magica. (Living with someone for eight years and not passing on my cold sore to him says something about my precautionary measures.) What I take exception to is being made to feel like a pariah for something I had no control over contracting.

For every single one of you who goes, "Eww!" I hope you have a similar joy repaid to you.

Karma, it's a bitch.

 

[cloudy]

I never said anything about NOT taking precautions, Magica. (Living with someone for eight years and not passing on my cold sore to him says something about my precautionary measures.) What I take exception to is being made to feel like a pariah for something I had no control over contracting.

For every single one of you who goes, "Eww!" I hope you have a similar joy repaid to you.

Karma, it's a bitch.

I agree.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I have herpes. I probably got it in the first few months of sexual activity, and I'm sure that I and my friends spread it far and wide before information started coming forth about what it was and why one should be careful...

 

[S-Des]

Herpes 1 and 2 can infect either the mouth or the genitals-- the herpes virus travels along the nerve pathways into the spine to live, and migrates back along those same paths to reproduce (ew) The paths from the mouth and the genitals respectively, go to different points along the spinal column, which tends to keep the virus manifestation in one spot...

I just heard this for the first time this year. I had no idea you could pass herpes through oral sex (and am really hopeful that I never did it in my youth). I'm hoping that sex ed is better now then when I was in school.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Stella's Sexy Safe Sex Tip #69;

If you must use a barrier, use saran wrap. It's super thin, impermeable, and you can tear off a very long length of it and wrap her into a very fetching little bikini bottom-- thereby freeing your hands from having to hold anything in place.

(edited to add;

Sex ed is much, much worse than it was in your day. However there are a number of good websites,<sarcasm> so that's all right...</sarcasm>

 

[McKenna]

Oral Herpes Information

Link here.

Oral herpes is an infection caused by the herpes simplex virus. The virus causes painful sores on your lips, gums, tongue, roof of your mouth, and inside your cheeks. It also can cause symptoms such as fever and muscle aches. (I've only ever had sores on my lip, never on the inside of my mouth, nor in my throat.)

The herpes simplex virus affects only humans. Mouth sores most commonly occur in children aged 1-2 years, but they can affect people at any age and any time of the year.

People contract herpes by touching infected saliva, mucous membranes, or skin. Because the virus is highly contagious, most people have been infected by at least 1 herpes subtype before adulthood.

After the herpes virus infects you, it has a rather unique ability to proceed to 3 stages.

Primary infection: The virus enters your skin or mucous membrane and reproduces. During this stage, oral sores and other symptoms, such as fever, may develop.

The virus may not cause any sores and symptoms. You may not know that you have it. This is called asymptomatic infection.

Asymptomatic infection occurs twice as often as the disease with symptoms.

Latency: From the infected site, the virus moves to a mass of nervous tissue in your spine called the dorsal root ganglion. There the virus reproduces again and becomes inactive.

Recurrence: When you encounter certain stresses, emotional or physical, the virus may reactivate and cause new sores and symptoms.

 

[MagicaPractica]

I never said anything about NOT taking precautions, Magica. (Living with someone for eight years and not passing on my cold sore to him says something about my precautionary measures.) What I take exception to is being made to feel like a pariah for something I had no control over contracting.

For every single one of you who goes, "Eww!" I hope you have a similar joy repaid to you.

Karma, it's a bitch.

Yes, I can see how the ew's would rankle. I was looking at it from my perspective not theirs.

 

[DeeZire]

For every single one of you who goes, "Eww!" I hope you have a similar joy repaid to you.

I had never seen the term 'herpes-lipped liberals' till I came to this board. I was shocked the first time I saw it, but now I realize the term should have been 'herpes-lipped everybody'.

 

[Guest]

karma indeed

I never said anything about NOT taking precautions, Magica. (Living with someone for eight years and not passing on my cold sore to him says something about my precautionary measures.) What I take exception to is being made to feel like a pariah for something I had no control over contracting.

For every single one of you who goes, "Eww!" I hope you have a similar joy repaid to you.

Karma, it's a bitch.

But for this family to go around knowingly passing something harmful to their children and close loved ones because they don't want to be singled out surely generates karma threefold.

I'd rather have someone have an ew reaction to *me*, than unwitingly giving someone something that already bothers me so much (hypothetically, I don't have it). Do not unto others...

Maharat

 

[Stella_Omega]

I had never seen the term 'herpes-lipped liberals' till I came to this board. I was shocked the first time I saw it, but now I realize the term should have been 'herpes-lipped everybody'.

Coming from the scabies-lipped fool it that did...