In case you are interested in signs of herpes in women you should know that it is an infection that lasts for a lifetime, causing outbreaks of painful blisters in the vaginal area. Although the same virus is to blame both in case of women and men, still the infection pattern is different.
Transmission of the virus
In order to avoid women’s genital herpes signs you should know that the virus spreads during close contact such as the exchange of semen, saliva, vesicle fluid or cervical fluid. The virus needs to come in contact with abraded skin or mucosal cells to be able to cause an infection and to replicate.
Transmission in women
It is said that the women’s genital herpes signs are four times more likely to appear than in case of men. It is more likely for a woman to get infected by a man than for a man to get infected by a woman. Simply put, if a healthy man and woman have sex with a person that is infected, the woman is more likely to get infected.
Women at greater risk?
It is more likely for women to develop signs of herpes in women because in their case there is a larger surface of the genital area having mucosal cells than in men. Having hormonal changes during a menstrual cycle has an effect on the immune system. So it becomes easier to catch an infection.
Signs of first genital herpes outbreak in women
It is known that the first outbreak always lasts longer and it is more painful than the others both in case of men and women. Nonetheless in case of women it is more likely to have a more serious disease and to suffer complications from the first outbreak.
As signs of herpes in women, the lesions can affect just any part of the vaginal area, like the vagina, vulva, urethra or cervix. Also the lesions can affect areas besides the vaginal ones, like the thighs or buttocks. Usually the first lesions are infectious during the first 3 weeks.
Other women’s genital herpes signs
Besides having a rash in the vaginal area, women may also be facing getting swollen lymph nodesand a burning sensation during urination. The complications of the first appearance include problems with urinating in about 10%-15% of the cases and meningitis too in about 25% of women. This means the inflammation of the brain that surrounds it.
Confusing signs of herpes in women
It is true that they have more severe symptoms, but they might also have some nonspecific ones. Women with lesions in their genital area could experience vaginal discharge and pain in the pelvic area as women’s genital herpes signs that could become misdiagnosed as pelvic inflammatory disease, yeast infection, or even cervicitis.
In case the signs of herpes in women include lesions on the urethra, then the infection could be misdiagnosed being bladder dysfunction or some kind of urinary tract infection among other conditions so you should get your symptoms checked out.
