What does herpes look like in women?

In real life, herpes is a very common skin disease. Herpes is highly contagious and can be transmitted through blood or saliva. Both men and women may suffer from herpes, and herpes in women is also a relatively common disease. Women with herpes will develop blisters or papules on their skin, which are very harmful to their health and need early treatment.

What are the symptoms of herpes in women? It is mainly a sexually transmitted disease caused by the herpes simplex virus. The incubation period is 2 to 20 days, with an average of 6 days. Initially, multiple papules, small blisters or pustules appear in the genital area, which will ulcerate and erode, causing pain. Male and female patients may have systemic symptoms such as fever, headache, etc., and the disease is prone to relapse.

Causes

Herpes viruses have the following common characteristics: ① The virus is spherical, and the surface of the viral nucleocapsid is a symmetrical icosahedron composed of 162 shell particles, inside which is a core composed of DNA. There is a lipoprotein envelope around the nucleocapsid, and the outer diameter of the virus is 150 to 200 nm. ②Except for Epstein-Barr virus, all viruses can replicate in the diploid cell nucleus, and eosinophilic inclusion bodies appear in the nucleus. ③The virus can spread directly through intercellular bridges. Herpes viruses mainly invade tissues of ectodermal origin, including skin, mucous membranes and neural tissue. There are three subfamilies of herpes viruses: α, β, and γ. Those associated with human infection include the following:

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is an alpha herpesvirus. Primary infection of HSV-1 mostly occurs in infants and young children over six months old, and most of them are latent infections, with the virus lurking in the trigeminal ganglion and superior cervical ganglion. A small number of patients may present with acute herpetic stomatitis, herpetic keratoconjunctivitis, herpetic eczema, herpetic encephalitis, etc. Herpes encephalitis mostly occurs in older children and adults, and the mortality rate can reach 70%.

2. HHV-2

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is an alpha herpesvirus. Primary infection with HSV-2 is more common in patients after puberty, where it can lurk in the sacral ganglia and mainly cause genital herpes.

3. HHV-3

Varicella-zoster virus (VZV), an alpha herpesvirus, causes chickenpox and shingles. Varicella is a common infectious disease in children, and herpes zoster is a sporadic disease in adults.

EBV, a gammaherpesvirus, is a lymphotropic virus that causes infectious mononucleosis in humans and is also associated with the incidence of Birch lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

5. HHV-5

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a beta-herpes virus. It can cause congenital infection, and those infected during pregnancy can transmit it to the fetus through the placenta. In addition, CMV may also have carcinogenic effects.