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Amazon Price: $4.18
Average Customer Rating: 
(2 reviews)
Editorial Review: Herpes simplex viruses are capable of causing a wide variety of infections, including genital herpes, which is so common a sexually transmitted disease that it affects one in five people in the United States. Understanding Herpes is an accessible sourcebook about the virus, its various strains, the ways in which it is transmitted, its symptoms, and the most effective treatments for fighting infection and aftereffects. The book also details how the virus can manifest itself in AIDS patients, pregnant women, and newborns, and discusses the emotional problems that can be caused by herpes infections. Revised chapters provide:
* New information regarding the diagnosis and treatment of genital herpes
* New breakthroughs and discoveries in antiviral therapy
* New data about the connection between genital herpes and an increased risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV
* Additional steps people can take to reduce the spread of genital herpes between sexual partners
* New...
Customer Reviews:
1 of 1 found this review helpful:
A colleague's perspective, 2006-03-08
This book is accurate, easy to read, and written by a very well respected HSV researcher. It is slightly varied from most herpes books because is told from the perspective of a pediatrician. The size makes it approachable and easy to read in a short time, too.
26 of 28 found this review helpful:
Medically Useful, Personally Dry, 2000-04-19
* In general, this book helped me and my partner to understand the basic clinical facts and some lesser known clinical information about herpes, transmission, symptoms, treatment, etc. * Re: transmission: The author offers perspectives which surprisingly contradict some commonly held ideas about what is "safe" and "not safe", which makes this book particularly useful, if not a bit scarey. * Re: legal issues: The section on disease transmission and the ethics of disclosure is also well done and important. The author cites a case where someone who was lied to about a partner's STD status was awarded $600,000 in damages for pain and suffering, given the lifetime effects of herpes transmitted without honest disclosure. * Re: approach and tone: The book's appeal would have been increased with a more personal tone, with the author's voice addressed to us folks out here grappling with these difficult issues, and often at risk from partial knowledge and word-of-mouth guidelines. As it is the book is rather dispassionate, as if the busy physician author had transcribed a series of medical school lectures. * Re: also needed: Colored photographs of what typical outbreaks look like would have been very useful, as an addition to his useful black & white line drawings of virus transmission details. A good bit more could also have been provided about details of "safer sex" and relationship issues since we most need that out here in the real world. * Re: bottom line: As a clinical medical fact source it is an excellent and useful book.
