Recent Viral Diseases Articles
What Cause Cold Sores? Cold sores are caused by a virus, the herpes simplex virus or HSV. There are two kinds of herpes simplex virus, called type 1 and type 2. While both types can cause cold sores, type 1 is the variety usually responsible. Type 2 HSV is found in genital herpes and is much more rare than type 1 HSV.
Are Cold Sores Contagious? When someone gets a cold sore or knows someone who has one, it is not uncommon for them to wonder, "Are cold sores contagious?" And the answer to this question is yes, cold sores are contagious in more ways than one. The herpes simplex virus that usually causes cold sores is easily spread--even if the infected person does not have an active cold sore.
A Look at Cold Sore Treatments Cold sores usually disappear without any type of medication in about a week to ten days. Many people choose to wait out their cold sores, just ignoring them until they go away. Others decide that ten days is too long to have a large, painful, embarrassing facial blemish near their mouth and seek out medicine or other treatments to make the cold sore easier to deal with.
Home Remedies for Cold Sores There are a large number of home remedies for cold sores. In some cases these traditional treatments have been known to work as well as antiviral pills or numbing creams.
Is There a Cure For Cold Sores? One question on the minds of many people who frequently suffer from cold sores is "is there a cure for cold sores?" Sadly, the answer is no. But while there is no cold sores cure, there are numerous preventive measures people can take to keep their cold sore outbreaks to a minimum.
Bird Flu: Who Is at Greatest Risk of Dying? So why are health experts becoming alarmed about the H5N1 ("bird flu") virus? People are concerned because the virus has demonstrated the ability to kill a high percentage of the humans it infects.
The Bird Flu and You There is more news about the Avian Bird Flu (H5N1), and some of it may be frightful sounding.
Even President Bush finally addressed the issue in a recent speech. He mentioned that the US
Military might be called in to help enforce a possible quarantine of those afflicted, since
