Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Herpes Virus

Herpes is a virus that can spread from person to person through skin –to- skin contact. It can appear on many different areas of the body and is typically marked by an eruption of a cluster of blisters, although some people show very mild or no symptoms at all.

Herpes simplex virus type1 (HSV-1) is usually associate with infections of the lips, mouth, and face. It is the most common herpes simplex virus and most people develop it in childhood. HSV-1 often causes lesions inside the mouth, such as cold sores, or infection of the eye. It can also lead to infection of the lining of the brain. It is transmitted by contacted wih infected saliva. By adulthood, up to 90% of people we have antibodies to HSV-1.

Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) is sexually transmitted. Symptoms include genital ulcers or sores. In addition to oral and genital sores, the virus can also lead to complications such as infection of the lining of the brain and the brain itself in neonatal infants due to infection during birth.

Some people have no HSV-2 symptoms. HSV-2 is associated with genital herpes.
Some infected pepople experience sporadic episodes of viral reactivation, followed by transportation of the virus vis the nerves axon to the skin, where virus replication and shedding occurs.

Herpes is contagious if the carrier is producing and shedding the virus. This is especially likely during an outbreak at possible atother times. There is no cure yet, but there are treatments which reduce the likelihood of viral shedding.

A finger infection, called herpetic whitlow, is another form of herpes. It usually affects health care providers who are exposed to saliva during procedures.Sometimes, youg children also can get the disease.

The herpes virus can infect the fetus and cause abnormalities. A mother who is infected with herpes may transmit the virus to her new born during vaginal delivery, especially if the mother has an active infectionat the time of delivery. It is possible for the virus to be transmitted even when there are no symptoms or visible sores.

There are eight types of human Herpes virus will be there; Like that animal species that has been investigated also has its own Herpes virus.What these viruses all have in common is the ability to hide out in the body without causing symptoms, and then reappear at a later date. The human herpes virus family includes:

1. Herpes simplex virus type 1 (cold sores and whitlows on fingers and hands, also half new cases of genital herpes)
2. Herpes simplex virus type 2 (genital sores, also sometimes cold sores and whitlows)
The other viruses caught quite different illness. These are:
3. Varicella- zoster virus (also called herpes vermicelli/chickenpox and herpes zoster/shingles)
4. Epstein Barr virus (often abbreviated to EBV)
5. Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
6. Human herpes virus (HH6)
7. Human herpes virus (HH7)
8. Human herpes virus (HH8)

HSV is transmitted during close contact with an infected person who is shedding virus from the skin, in saliva or in secretions from the genitals. This horizontal transmission of the virus is more likely to occur when sores are present, although viral shedding, and therefore transmission, does occur in the absence of visible sores. The first outbreak after exposure to HSV is commonly more severe than future outbreaks, as the body has not had a chance to produce antibodies; this first outbreak carries a low risk of developing aseptic meningitis.

Animal herpes viruses all share some common properties. The structure of herpes viruses consists of a relatively large double-stranded, linear DNA genome encased within an icosahedral protein cage called the capsid, which is wrapped in a lipid bilayer called the envelope. The envelope is joined to the capsid by means of a tegument.

This complete particle is known as the virion HSV-1 and HSV-2 each contain at least 74 genes (or open-reading frames, ORFs) within their genomes, although speculation over gene crowding allows as many as 84 unique protein coding genes by 94 putative ORFs. These genes encode a variety of proteins involved in forming the capsid, tegument and envelope of the virus, as well as controlling the replication and infectivity of the virus.

The genomes of HSV-1 and HSV-2 are complex, and contain two unique regions called the long unique region (UL) and the short unique region (US). Of the 74 known ORFs, UL contains 56 viral genes, whereas US contains only 12. Transcription of HSV genes is catalyzed by RNA polymerase II of the infected host. Immediate early genes, which encode proteins that regulate the expression of early and late viral genes, are the first to be expressed following infection. Early gene expression follows, to allow the synthesis of enzymes involved in DNA replication and the production of certain envelope glycoproteins. Expression of late genes occurs last; this group of genes predominantly encode proteins that form the virion particle.

The virus will not change into a different strand (for example, HSV type -1 will not change to HSV type-2). However, a person can contract HSV-1 on the genital through contact with a cold sore during oral sex, causing a genital herpes infection. To determine which strand of the herpes simplex virus is causing an infection proper testing is recommended, such as “type specific” blood test or a culture test.

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