4 ms·

Everyone gets it. It just goes away, often for years. There's no cure. Like colds.

dpark 8y ago
> There's no cure. Like colds. Colds resolve in a few days to a week. There is absolutely a cure, just not one in pill form.
- philwelch 8y ago
  Most HSV outbreaks also resolve in a few days to a week, and either never recur at all or recur extremely infrequently.
  - dpark 8y ago
    The outbreak resolves. The infection does not. And recurrence of HSV is quite common.
burfog 8y ago
No, almost 40% of us do not get it. This is not something inevitable. I don't have any family member with the symptoms.
- icedchai 8y ago
  You realize most people don't get any symptoms, right? Many people contract it as a kid (a kiss from a relative) and their immune system suppresses it. Unless you get an HSV blood test you will not know.
  - yakshaving_jgt 8y ago
    Even blood tests are unreliable. IIRC, IgG tests are quite reliable but not every clinic does them. Many clinics default to an IgM test, which are useless[0]. The gold standard here is the Western Blot test [0]: https://drjengunter.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/igm-blood-test-for-herpes-just-say-no/ https://drjengunter.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/igm-blood-test-...
newnewpdro 8y ago
Speak for yourself, I don't have any form of HSV. One advantage to being a quiet friendless nerd throughout my youth was never catching chickenpox.
- icedchai 8y ago
  How do you know? Have you had HSV blood tests?
  - newnewpdro 8y ago
    In my 20s. I suppose it's remotely possible that I contracted HSV since then without ever having any symptoms, but my understanding of HSV is that with all forms the initial infection is obvious so that's quite unlikely. We're not talking about HPV, which I (and you) very likely have wether we know it or not, without vaccination.
    - icedchai 8y ago
      It's more likely than you think. "Oral herpes infection is mostly asymptomatic, and the majority of people with HSV-1 infection are unaware they are infected." [1] [1] From https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/herpes-simplex-virus https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/herpes-simp...
    - jayess 8y ago
      I'll announce my scarlet letter to make a point. I was recently tested for HSV and came back positive for HSV-2. I've never been tested before so I have no idea how long I've had it, but it was a surprise because I've had zero symptoms. In fact, I figured it was a false positive so I got re-tested.
    - Eleopteryx 8y ago
      >I suppose it's remotely possible that I contracted HSV since then without ever having any symptoms It actually is. Most people are asymptomatic, or their symptoms are so mild that they confuse them for a pimple. https://www.cdc.gov/std/herpes/stdfact-herpes-detailed.htm https://www.cdc.gov/std/herpes/stdfact-herpes-detailed.htm

> There's no cure. Like colds. Colds resolve in a few days to a week. There is absolutely a cure, just not one in pill form.

philwelch 8y ago
Most HSV outbreaks also resolve in a few days to a week, and either never recur at all or recur extremely infrequently.
- dpark 8y ago
  The outbreak resolves. The infection does not. And recurrence of HSV is quite common.

burfog 8y ago

No, almost 40% of us do not get it. This is not something inevitable. I don't have any family member with the symptoms.

icedchai 8y ago
You realize most people don't get any symptoms, right? Many people contract it as a kid (a kiss from a relative) and their immune system suppresses it. Unless you get an HSV blood test you will not know.
- yakshaving_jgt 8y ago
  Even blood tests are unreliable. IIRC, IgG tests are quite reliable but not every clinic does them. Many clinics default to an IgM test, which are useless[0]. The gold standard here is the Western Blot test [0]: https://drjengunter.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/igm-blood-test-for-herpes-just-say-no/ https://drjengunter.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/igm-blood-test-...

newnewpdro 8y ago

Speak for yourself, I don't have any form of HSV. One advantage to being a quiet friendless nerd throughout my youth was never catching chickenpox.

icedchai 8y ago
How do you know? Have you had HSV blood tests?
- newnewpdro 8y ago
  In my 20s. I suppose it's remotely possible that I contracted HSV since then without ever having any symptoms, but my understanding of HSV is that with all forms the initial infection is obvious so that's quite unlikely. We're not talking about HPV, which I (and you) very likely have wether we know it or not, without vaccination.
  - icedchai 8y ago
    It's more likely than you think. "Oral herpes infection is mostly asymptomatic, and the majority of people with HSV-1 infection are unaware they are infected." [1] [1] From https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/herpes-simplex-virus https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/herpes-simp...
  - jayess 8y ago
    I'll announce my scarlet letter to make a point. I was recently tested for HSV and came back positive for HSV-2. I've never been tested before so I have no idea how long I've had it, but it was a surprise because I've had zero symptoms. In fact, I figured it was a false positive so I got re-tested.
  - Eleopteryx 8y ago
    >I suppose it's remotely possible that I contracted HSV since then without ever having any symptoms It actually is. Most people are asymptomatic, or their symptoms are so mild that they confuse them for a pimple. https://www.cdc.gov/std/herpes/stdfact-herpes-detailed.htm https://www.cdc.gov/std/herpes/stdfact-herpes-detailed.htm