There are many locations herpes can affect human such as the face, eye, genital, mouth, tongue, thigh and many more. In this article, we are going to focus on ocular herpes which deals with the infection of the eye. As we all know, herpes itself is divided into two groups such as HSV 1 and HSV 2. HSV 1 is responsible for the virus that affects the facial area while HSV 2 deals with the genital area.
The symptoms of this disease include cold sores, blisters, burning sensation and headache. It has been proved that HSV 1 accounts for more infection of this virus in humans than HSV 2 and it has been estimated that over 400, 000 Americans have contracted ocular herpes with about 50, 000 new cases reported annually. The areas this disease affects in the eye are the eyelids, the mucous membrane that protect and conceal the eyeball and the cornea.
Recently survey showed that ocular herpes is the most common cause of corneal blindness with about 50% chances of having recurrence and further spread of the virus to other parts of the eye. Infected people often begin seeing the symptoms of this disease within two to twenty days of exposure to this virus and the first recurrence could occur in about a month or even a year.
Keratitis is an infection of the eye associated with ocular herpes. The initial signs people tend to experience when infected with this virus is inflammation of the cornea which causes permanent scarring and loss of vision which can leads to blindness at the long run as reported by National Eye Institute of America.
Another serious form of ocular herpes worth mentioning is iridocyclitis which occurs in the retina or inside the lining of the back of the eye. Iridocyclitis is the inflammation of the iris which causes sensitivity to light, blurred vision and burning sensation. Like any kind of herpes infection, ocular herpes can be transmitted by skin contact or sharing objects used by a person already infected with this disease.
Herpes virus can reside in the body fluid, semen, vagina fluid and saliva of an infected person and any neutral person who comes in contact with any of this stands a high chance of getting infected. If you experience any symptoms of this virus or have been exposed to this disease at any point in time then you need to get diagnosed by an ophthalmologist immediately. You can also visit the doctor to get a herpes test since this virus can be easily spread to other areas of the body. If you have families it is vital to have them undergo the test as well as in order to begin early treatment of this disease.
An ophthalmologist or doctor is in a better position to recommend the best drugs to use in controlling this deadly virus since treatment of this virus varies according to the category and severity. Unfortunately, there isn't a complete cure for this virus but the available medication helps to keep the disease under control.
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