My herpes story

A little HERPES never hurt anyone or did it?

The term herpes is derived from the Greek word “to creep or crawl” and dates back to early Greek civilization, approximately 2000 years ago.

It is defined as any of a group of viruses or diseases caused by herpes viruses, affecting the skin (often with blisters) or the nervous system.

I never heard people talking about herpes, usually, everyone spoke about HIV, Hepatitis, Gonorrhea, and other diseases but I guess I would hear more as time went by.

I was a pretty wild girl if I would say so for a very short time,
During this time, I was the know it, do it, and the party it all. Hello, my name is Jenna, Jenna Park.

I wasn’t always the wild one though, I grew up in a Christian home with strict religious Nigerian parents, I had very strict rules that I had to follow and I didn’t care, I was happy and I had all that I could ever need at the time just before things changed.

My parents had the brilliant idea to send me to a Christian boarding school, they thought it would build character and make me more Christ-filled, it didn’t take long before I realized how crazy things could be in this school.

I met a girl named June, she was a pastor's daughter and as the saying went, pastor’s kids were pretty crazy and she taught me everything I knew.

We became inseparable from the start, like soulmates that were attracted to each other like magnets,

She was a key to the void I never thought I had. She knew I didn’t know much and she had planned to teach me everything she knew.

First, she changed the way I dressed and introduced me to party life, she already had had her connections which made it very easy to leave school whenever we wanted and we went everywhere you could imagine, from the bars to the strip clubs.

The next thing she did was find me a boyfriend. She felt like that could open my eyes to a different world and I didn’t fight it.

It didn’t take long till I met Jer and he did introduce me to a different world while it lasted.

We continued being crazy and living life, and it was the best days of my life, well until June got sick, the
symptoms were the usual pain, itching, fever, fatigue, and a general feeling of being unwell which didn’t feel like much but made her miss school for a few weeks

Her parents thought the hospital didn’t matter and prayers could solve it all, and maybe it could have if they knew what they were praying for.

She came back and she was feeling a lot better than before but something had changed and I couldn’t quite figure it out.

She was a bit distant the first few weeks but it gradually became better and then worse than before.

Public Domain, Wikimedia

She had sores all over her mouth and she continually tried to hide them from her family and the school.

I started making my research and I had different results from typing sores on the lip, from cancer, syphilis, erythema multiforme, and a virus called Herpes.

I found myself in an endless web with no direction and fear in my heart but my goal was to observe and discover before I had a feeling that I could be her saving grace.

For a few days, all I could do was observe and write down what I noticed about her, and after collecting
my data, I went back for more research and even called the family doctor which I was privileged to do and he pointed me at Herpes.

Apparently, there were eight herpes viruses for which humans were the primary host.
They were the herpes simplex virus 1, herpes simplex virus 2, varicella-zoster virus, Epstein-Barr virus, cytomegalovirus, Human herpesvirus-6, Human herpesvirus-7, and Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus.

The ones majorly caught in Nigeria were the HSV 1 and 2, in simpler terms the oral and genital herpes.

HSV-1 was usually spread to others by touch such as kissing, shared objects (such as cups and toothbrushes), or oral sex which means that the virus could infect other areas like hands/fingers, neck, nostrils, etc.

HSV-2 was generally contracted through vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who has the virus, and most times a person could be asymptomatic which would make it easier to spread without knowledge and the symptoms would start showing 2 to 14 days after exposure.

I also discovered that people with genital herpes had a higher risk of contracting and passing on HIV, as sores in the skin can facilitate HIV’s passing into and out of the body.

I didn’t know how to tell June about what I found out but I knew how easy it could spread and I couldn’t live with myself if she didn’t know.

I finally gathered the courage to sit her down and tell her and the only words that could come out were “June, I think you have herpes and you need to get tested”.

I could see her eyes change, from shocked, to confused to heartbreak, and then she broke down.

She told me how she felt something was wrong with her but couldn’t summon the heart to tell her parents that she was sexually active at 16 years because it would break their heart and her mother would be blamed.

We called my family doctor and swore him to the doctor-patient confidentiality clause before he performed the test which came out positive in 3 days.

She was instructed by the doctor to keep utensils away from her family and others, abstain from kissing and sex, wash her hands after touching herself, and using a condom if sex was a must.

For days she was depressed and she concluded on not telling her parents which I was severely against but it wasn’t my choice to make and all I could do was support her, according to the doctor she had the rare case of being infected with both oral and genital herpes and she was deteriorating very fast.

There was no cure for herpes but certain treatments could aid her to feel better like pain medicines and
creams for itch and she could also get some antiviral like acyclovir to help stop the virus from multiplying.

Herpes had stages before the ulcers came out.

It had the prodromal stage with itching and tingling and then the development of blisters.

Then the blisters progress to form ulcers and finally the healing.

She was at the stage where the ulcers were not healing and it was crazy how no one noticed how bad she was getting.

Sadly, she died 10 months later, I was shattered and I gradually lost my mind.

Her parents were informed and I could not help but reveal what I knew about her death. The school was informed about our escapades and I was tested which came out negative and thrown into a church rehabilitation center where I am today.

I walked off the pulpit after sharing my story and faking regrets because that was the only way I could leave where I was, I could never regret meeting June, I only wished we had detected this virus earlier and her life was spared.

You can make a difference, like in most viruses and diseases, early detection saves lives and Herpes isn’t a death sentence, a person with herpes can live a long healthy life with the right practices so please get tested today.

In summary, herpes is a group of diseases caused by the herpes virus. HSV 1 and 2 are relatively more common than the other strains. It is transmitted either by contact or sexually.

The most striking symptom is blister formation, however, there can be a general feeling of being unwell. Blisters tend to erupt when the body is going through some form of illness.

These blisters become severe in the presence of diseases that reduce immunity like AIDS. It also makes it easier to contract various sexually transmitted infections.

It has no cure and treatment is aimed at halting the process of multiplication of the virus by using the antiviral drug acyclovir.

The mainstay of prevention is practicing safe sexual practices and testing yourself and your partner.

On a final note, Herpes is not such a severe disease if detected early and treated appropriately.

So do a test today.

References

• CDC
• Medical news today
• Healthline
• WHO

Thank you for reading.