Genital Herpes Dictionary

primary initial outbreak: The first herpes attack an individual experiences following exposure to the virus and is generally more severe due to the lack of defenses to the disease, with symptoms including headache, fever, abdominal pressure, tenderness and tingling.

prodromal symptoms: These are the first warning signs of a herpes outbreak that may, or may not, include flu-like symptoms plus tingling, burning and itching.

recurrence: Once an individual is infected with a herpes virus, it will often reappear as a result of the initial contact, although these recurring active phases may be less severe than first outbreaks.

remission: The dormant period when herpes viruses are inactive; may last weeks, months or years and in some cases, forever.

sacra ganglia: These are the nerve bundles situated at the base of the spine that contain the HSV 2 virus when it is in the dormant phase.

shedding: This is a contagious stage of the herpes virus when infected cells are actually reproducing on the skin's surface during an outbreak without the presence of lesions, but can also occur unnoticed during dormant phases and is then known as asymptomatic shedding.

shingles: The recurrence of the varicella zoster virus (VZV) that lies dormant in nerves following a chicken pox infection, and under the right conditions causes symptoms similar to those of other viruses in the herpes family.

sexually transmitted diseases (STDs): A large group of diseases that are transmitted through skin-to-skin contact and sexual intercourse that particularly thrive in moist environments.