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Herpes Simplex Virus Analysis

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Herpes simplex virus is epidemic in the United States; however, precise statistics are unknown as it is not a reportable disease and 50-70% of recurrent infections are asymptomatic (McCance, Huether, & Brashers, 2014, p. 932). Furthermore, it is estimated that 80% of infected individuals do not know that they are positive for HSV (McCance et al., 2014, p. 932) There are two serotypes of the virus: HSV-1 and HSV-2. HSV-2 is what commonly causes genital herpes and recurring infections (McCance et al., 2014). HSV-1 more commonly causes cold sores but there is increased incidence of genital herpes caused by HSV-1 due to transmission during oral sex (however, this could be due to increased screening and testing rather than a rise in oral sex rates) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). HSV is transmitted by mucosal contact with an individual who has a lesion that is shedding the herpes virus; however, the virus can also be transmitted when an individual who is infected with HSV is shedding the virus asymptomatically and this is presumed to be when most transmission occurs (McCance et al., 2014, p. 933). A 22 year old female comes to your primary care clinic with genital itching for 3-4 days and upon inspection you notice an open sore on her labia and …show more content…

What’s most important is that you treat it just like any other aspect of the health history. Standardize your questions for every patient and reassure them that you have to ask everyone these questions because, odd are, they are uncomfortable too. Start out with open ended questions and at the end always ask if there’s anything that you didn’t talk about that they think is important (CDC, 2005). But if you find yourself feeling uncomfortable, talk to another nurse about your feelings and see if they have any advice or have had similar experiences. Part of good nursing care is taking care of and supporting each other (Swanson, 1993, p.

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