Herpes
From Ganfyd
Disease, and group of viruses.
Q: What is the difference between Love and Herpes?
A: Love doesn't last forever 
- Apocryphal
Herpes group viruses
The Herpes group of viruses include around 8 large complex DNA viruses capable of infecting humans. This family of viruses are known as the Herpesviridae
The Herpes viruses establish lifelong latency in the host. Reactivation does occur if and when the host becomes immunocompromised e.g. HIV infection, cancer, iatrogenic immunosuppression.
The eight human herpes viruses are:
| Type | Common Name | Diseases | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| HHV-1 | HSV-1 | Oral herpes ('cold sores'). Herpetic whitlow. | Not exclusively oral. |
| HHV-2 | HSV-2 | Genital herpes | Not exclusively genital. |
| HHV-3 | VZV | Chickenpox (varicella), shingles (zoster). | 0 |
| HHV-4 | EBV | Infectious mononucleosis ('glandular fever'). Implicated in Burkitt's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma. | 0 |
| HHV-5 | CMV | Infectious mononucleosis, retinitis in immunocompromised. | 0 |
| HHV-6/7 | Sixth disease | 0 | |
| HHV-8 | Kaposi's sarcoma | 0 |
We have anti-viral medications for Herpes viruses - Aciclovir is the type drug.
