Genital Herpes and HIV: What You Need to Know

1. Genital Herpes and HIV:What You Need to Know

2. Today, We Will Talk About Genital Herpes What is it? How does a person get it? How is it diagnosed by a health care provider? Is there treatment for it? Genital Herpes and HIV What are the effects of genital herpes on HIV? What are the effects of HIV on genital herpes?

3. Facts About Genital Herpes The #1 Sexually Transmitted Disease in the USA 1 out of 5 adults in the United States has genital herpes

4. Genital Herpes Is the Most Common STD in the United States HIV infection affects 1 out of 250 people

5. What Is Genital Herpes? An infection caused by a virus Main symptom is blisters or sores One or several, grouped sores In the genital area or �private area� of men and women Penis, vagina, or rectum and the surrounding skin Sores are usually worse the first time you have them Sores can come and go as �outbreaks� A herpes infection can not be cured - you have it for life

6. What Does a Genital Herpes Outbreak Look Like?

7. What Does a Genital Herpes Outbreak Look Like?

8. What Does a Genital Herpes Outbreak Look Like?

9. What Herpes Virus Causes Genital Herpes? Most genital herpes is caused by the herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) Fever blisters or cold sores of the lips or mouth are caused by a related virus, herpes simplex virus-1 Because of oral sex: Sometimes HSV-1 can cause genital herpes Sometimes HSV-2 can cause fever blisters or cold sores Most of the time we are referring to HSV-2 when we say �genital herpes�

10. How Do You Get Genital Herpes? Genital Herpes is spread by �intimate� (skin-to-skin) contact in the genital area Penis, vagina, or rectum and the surrounding skin Because genital herpes is spread by skin-to-skin contact, you can get genital herpes even if you don�t have sex or intercourse Because condoms don�t cover the entire area, condoms do not work 100% of the time in preventing the spread of genital herpes

11. Example of a Genital Herpes Sore on the Buttock

12. Ways to Get Genital Herpes Skin contact with an open herpes sore can transmit genital herpes People who have genital herpes can release or shed the virus through the skin of the genital area in between outbreaks This is called asymptomatic viral shedding

13. Ways to Get Genital Herpes One study found that up to 70% of people who had genital herpes got it from their partners when their partners had no signs or symptoms of an outbreak So it is possible to spread genital herpes even when there are no visible blisters or sores

14. How Does a Person Know If They Have Genital Herpes? Some people with genital herpes have painful, recurrent outbreaks in the same location of the genital area Some people with genital herpes do not have recurrent outbreaks Whether people have outbreaks or not, asymptomatic viral shedding still occurs

15. Most People Don�t Know They Have, or That They Can Spread Genital Herpes Up to 90% of those who tested positive for HSV-2 did not know they were infected with genital herpes

16. Why Don�t People Know They Have Genital Herpes? Many times the symptoms of genital herpes are blamed on other things Vaginal infections Bladder infections Jock itch or rash Blisters or sores heal up without scarring so in between recurrences or �outbreaks,� everything looks normal

17. How Is Genital Herpes Diagnosed? When there are blisters or sores, your health care provider can send a sample to a lab to test for genital herpes If there are no blisters or sores, a blood test can be done to tell if you have the virus that causes genital herpes

18. Are There Treatments for Genital Herpes? Although some people with genital herpes never have symptoms that they recognize at all, others may experience outbreaks from time to time Some people have frequent outbreaks, while others have them rarely or never On average, people with genital herpes get about 3 or 4 outbreaks per year Fortunately, there are treatments to reduce your number of outbreaks, so talk to your doctor for more information

19. HIV and Genital Herpes Who has both HIV and genital herpes? How does HIV affect genital herpes? How does genital herpes affect HIV?

20. The Majority of People with HIV Are Infected With Genital Herpes 60% - 70% of people with HIV in the United States are also infected with HSV-2 Coinfection with HIV and HSV-2 is most common in: Women - 3 in 4 have genital herpes Heterosexuals - 3 in 4 have genital herpes African Americans - 3 in 4 have genital herpes

21. How Does HIV Affect Genital Herpes? People with HIV may have more symptoms of genital herpes More frequent outbreaks Blisters or sores may be larger Outbreaks may last longer People with HIV and low T-cell counts have more severe genital herpes

22. How Does Genital Herpes Affect HIV? People with both HIV and genital herpes have more asymptomatic viral shedding than people with genital herpes alone Medications for HIV (HAART) decrease the number of genital herpes outbreaks but� People taking medications for HIV (HAART) can still spread genital herpes

23. How Does Genital Herpes Affect HIV? People with genital herpes are 3 times more likely to get HIV People with both HIV and genital herpes may be able to spread HIV more easily

24. So Here�s What We Talked About: 1 in 5 adults in the United States has genital herpes, but most don�t know it Genital herpes is spread by intimate, skin-to-skin contact in the genital area or �private area� of men and women Penis, vagina, or rectum and the surrounding skin Some people have recurrent outbreaks, some do not

25. So Here�s What We Talked About: Anyone with genital herpes can give the virus to someone else, even if they don�t have any symptoms Having genital herpes makes it more likely you will get HIV Having both genital herpes and HIV makes it easier to spread HIV to others

26. So Here�s What We Talked About: A blood test can diagnose genital herpes, even in people who do not remember having outbreaks There are treatments for genital herpes for prevention of future outbreaks Talk with your doctor about genital herpes It is unknown whether treating genital herpes will prevent you from getting HIV