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What is herpes?

  • Updated

Herpes, specifically HSV-1 and HSV-2, is a very common infection that is passed through skin-to-skin contact. It’s estimated that 70% of Canadians have been infected, whether they show symptoms or not. Symptoms of herpes typically include blisters on the skin that tingle, burn, or are painful and, without treatment, can take up to three to four weeks to resolve. There is no cure for herpes, but there are treatments.

HSV-1 most commonly causes these blisters around, mouth, nose, and/or throat (oral herpes, cold sores, or fever blisters). HSV-2 more commonly causes these blisters in or around your vagina, penis, anus, scrotum, buttocks, inner thighs (genital herpes). However, HSV-1 can also infect the genital area and HSV-2 can also cause cold sores, so the terms oral herpes and genital herpes are better for describing the symptoms, regardless of the virus.

Symptoms

Oral Herpes (cold sores)

  • A spot that tingles, burns, or itches around your mouth, lips, or nose.
  • A single blister or series of small blisters appears within 24-48 hours.
  • After the blisters appear, they usually break open, leak a clear fluid, and then crust over.
  • They usually heal in 7 to 10 days.
  • For some people, cold sores can be very painful.

Genital Herpes

  • A spot that tingles, burns, or itches around your genitals or anus.
  • One or more small, itchy, painful blisters appear within 24-48 hours.
  • These lesions or blisters eventually break or burst, leaving shallow sores that can take 2-4 weeks to heal.
  • Flu-like symptoms, such as a fever and muscle aches are common with the first episode.

Herpes infections have three different phases

  1. Primary outbreak: Usually most severe and happens within a few weeks after HSV exposure and infection
  2. Latent infection: Virus becomes inactive in body and no symptoms are present
  3. Recurrent outbreaks: Many people experience recurrent episodes, which are usually milder than the primary outbreak. Triggers for outbreaks can include: stress, fatigue, sunlight, tissue trauma, or other infections like a cold or flu. 

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