Herpes Hollywood Invasion

There’s a common insignia that celebrities are immune to imminence of life. But they tend to prove us wrong as many of them do acquired diseases that we considered to be a nasty one. I’m referring to creepy, painful sore that is called Herpes. In spite of the fame and prestige that Hollywood celebrities had, they are still vulnerable to this infection and the victims of this virus continue to grow to the present time. Even those that have big names in the industry had no escape to this; as a matter of fact some of them are seen buying anti viral such as Valtex, and Zovirax both used in treating Herpes Simplex.


 Origin And Transmission

HSV-1 is spread through saliva. Kissing, using the same eating utensils, sharing personal items (such as a razor), and receiving oral sex from someone who has HSV-1 can cause you to contract the virus. HSV-2 is sexually transmitted. To infect people, HSV-1 and HSV-2 must get into the body through broken skin or a mucous membrane, such as inside the mouth or in the genital area. In addition to the fluid from fever blisters, each virus can be carried in bodily fluids like saliva, semen, and fluid in the female genital tract. Also, a mother can pass the infection to her baby during vaginal birth, especially if there are active blisters around the vagina at the time of delivery.

This disease was cause by a strain of virus that was called Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV); there are two types of HSV that affects humans.

1.       Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) 1 – This type of herpes virus causes infection on the lips and mouth and a blister will eventually form. They are also the culprit behind cold sore but in a milder form.  It is usually present at the mouth part but it can also be infect the genitals if engaged in an oral sex.

2.       Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) 2 – This type of herpes virus have the same effects as the HSV 1. The only difference was this group of viruses attacks the genital parts and much potent compared to the first one. However, it can also affect the mouth area if a skin to skin contact was initiated such as in sexual intercourse.

The mode of transmission of this disease is commonly through skin to skin contact. Having sex is one of the activities that requires skin to skin contact that focus mainly on mouth area and genitals.

Signs And Symptoms

In every disease there are always a sign and symptom that accompanies it. May this be a sort of guidelines to assess your vulnerability to this disease. Here are the summarized signs and symptoms of Herpes Simplex infection.

HSV 1

  • Small blisters, usually found around lips or at the edge of the mouth or even at the genital area. The blisters are often painful and filled with fluid.

  • Fever as a part of body’s defense mechanism.

  • Sore throat may be experienced.

  • Swollen lymph nodes in neck, in reaction of the body to the infection.

  • Tingling or burning around the mouth or nose, often a few days before blisters appear.

HSV 2

  • Small red blisters or open sores on genitals or inner thighs; in women, often occur inside the genital.

  • A tingling sensation around the in the genitalia, buttocks, and thighs are experienced.

  • Painful, but at some cases they are not.

  • Vaginal discharge is often seen of women with HSV 2 infection.

  • Fever accompanied by body malaise is experienced as part of the body’s defense mechanism.

  • Painful urination, due to the location and the severity of the area that was infected.

  • Swollen lymph glands in the groin, as the body’s natural defense fights back the virus.

 

Preventing Its Transmission

 As what health care professional always say prevention is better than the cure. This is absolutely true especially with HSV infection due to the fact that it is transmitted through skin to skin contact or any contact to the infected area. Through the years of research that was done health professional was able to come up with some ways to avoid the further spread of this infection.

HSV-1

  • It is better to avoid kissing people with visible sores or infected. Because there are some cases that even though they are infected there are no breakout that was noted.

  • Wash your hands frequently, is always the best way to prevent the transmission of the disease..

  • Don't share personal items.

  • Be careful touching your eyes and genitals; don't perform oral sex on your partner, to avoid it ro be spread on other areas of the body.

  • Use sunscreen to protect the skin.

  • Reduce stress, for a better immune system.

HSV-2

  • Be sure to inspect the genital area of your partner especially if you don’t know her that much. If blisters where noted refrain from having any contact with the affected area. Moreover, herpes outbreaks are not always obvious and your partner may be contagious without you knowing it and seeking an immediate counseling from a health care practitioner is a must to know the ways on how to stay safe.

  • Avoid touching the sores to avoid it’s transmission to other body parts.

  • Use or have your partner use a latex condom, even when sores are not visible. However, extra precaution was still needed since the affected part may not be covered by the condom.

  • Limit the number of sex partners and better to stick with just one partner.

  • Use a water-based lubricant to prevent friction during sex, which can irritate the skin and increase the risk of outbreaks.

Celebrities Get Bang With Herpes

There are bunch of celebrities that was been reported of having a herpes outbreak. If we talk of HSV invasion in Hollywood these are the top ten lists that often comes to our mind. They might deny it but some of them have proof to it. I grouped them into two.

Male:

1. David Hasselhoff - Enjoyed his fame in the early to mid-80’s and became popular with the sexiest hot babes in a TV series titled Bay Watch.  It was not known to public until his divorce from his wife Pamela Bach in 2006, and that Pamela claimed that he was infected by David since their marriage in 1989.


 

2. David Beckham – A well renowned football player. Being famous may cause some consequences at hand. In spite of his awesome physique, David has no escape to the elusive offense of the herpes virus.

 

3. Brad Pitt – Often referred to by some magazine as “Sexiest Man Alive.” No arguments here. Rumors suggest that he got infected with herpes through Angelina Jolie during the filming of their movie, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” Of course he was still married to Jennifer Anniston at the time. So does him or does he not has herpes and do women really care. Lady go gaga with this guy, look at him, he’s drop-dead gorgeous!


4. Derek Jeter – Geez! This man is considered to be the breading bowl of herpes virus as if there is a center to the herpes universe then it revolves around Jeter. He allegedly passed STD to the women he’s dated, included in his chain of Jeter HSV are:

·         Jessica Alba

·          Jessica Biel

·         Mariah Carey

·         Vanessa Minnillo

·         Scarlett Johansson


5. Orlando Bloom – They consider that he got infected by Vanessa Minnillo courtesy of Jeter.

 

Female:

1. Paris Hilton –. She’s a beautiful girl and a rich heiress who loves to party. I bet we are not surprised with this! Come on, this girl was been in and out of jail and even had a couple of sex videos. Her lifestyle puts her at risk of any STD’s. Recently a leaked photo of her Valtrex prescription was circulated around the World Wide Web, which confirms than she did have HSV infection.


2. Victoria Beckham – A notable member of the famous girl band spice girls. Unfortunately he was married to David Beckham and received a shredding gift.


3. Britney Spears – I saw this girl matured from a awesome teenager to a wild girl that she is right now. Been to jail to quite some time due to inappropriate actions. Recently she was spotted in Kentwood picking up a prescription for Zovirax an antiviral drug that was use for treating herpes infection.

4. Katie Holmes - recently had a break out that made headlines with photos of her sporting sores on her mouth. We all get cold sores, but she has been rumored to have had herpes for years.


5. Jessica Alba – She got it from former companion Derek Jeter according to the rumored story. Her former assistant confess he regularly filled her prescription for Valtrex medication used to treat herpes.


What’s The Antidote For This?

Health professionals are still in search of the feasible medicine to cure HSV infection. So far the antiviral drugs that we have today are used to lessen the outbreaks and to lessen the symptoms as well. They can also reduce the chances of spreading the virus. Emotional support is needed and social aspects of having genital herpes is part of treatment. Antiviral medicines can reduced the length of a herpes outbreak and cut down on recurring outbreaks. These treatments can reduce outbreaks by up to 80%, and these medications include:

 
 
  • Acyclovir (Zovirax)

  • Famciclovir (Famvir)

  • Valacyclovir (Valtrex)

  • Penciclovir –(topical)

  • (Denavir) – (topical)

The number of people being affected by STD’s continues to grow in spite of different programs that were made to terminate it. Does this means that people of our generation are more active in terms of sexual activities? Share us your thought by writing a comment.