Welcome to the Herpes Viruses Association (HVA) and Shingles Support Society web site - helping people with genital herpes simplex or shingles (herpes varicella) to help themselves.

Choose a page from the list on the blue bar to the left.

If you want to know about the very common (but often feared) herpes simplex virus - the cause of genital herpes - this on-line resource can help you. The HVA can answer any question you may have.

What other 'herpes' sites don't tell you

1. Most people have herpes simplex - 70% have facial herpes (cold sores) and 10% have genital herpes in the UK. These figures are even higher in other countries including the USA and the developing world.
2. Three quarters don't know they have it: 1 in 4 will have no symptoms; 2 in 4 will have only mild symptoms and are unlikely to be diagnosed; 1 in 4 will have more noticeable symptoms and will be diagnosed.
3. Herpes simplex is seldom of any medical importance - some people are quite ill when they catch it but so are some people who catch flu.
4. It is not incurable - your immune system cures it very well and stops recurrences for most people.
5. There are good treatment methods for the unlucky few - medication or herbal treatments and improved lifestyle management.
6. It's not the only infection that stays with us once we catch it - chickenpox and glandular fever also hide in the body but no one makes a fuss about them.

Other web sites may exaggerate the worst cases and seek to make you believe herpes is a big deal. Don't be fooled. It's as big a deal as you want to make it. You don't have to worry about it. Join the HVA if you are worried and we'll help you not to be. We arrange workshops as well as social events.

Dr George Kinghorn, GU consultant in Sheffield told us: "What I am suggesting to you is that to be infected with a herpes simplex virus is a state of normality. We tend to make this into a big deal instead of to say that to be infected with herpes virus is something that happens to all adults, some with symptoms and some of us without"

Read this first: If you have not been diagnosed with herpes simplex, do not jump to conclusions. Herpes simplex can appear in various ways so the best way to be sure about what you have is to get a swab test done at a clinic of genito-urinary medicine (or Sexual Health Department) at your nearest general hospital or search here. Wait till it has loaded, then do a search (Control+F) for your nearest large town.

Still have questions?  We have answers.