Herpes

Generality

Herpes is an infectious and contagious disease caused by a large family of viruses, called herpesviruses. Among these the most common are herpes simplex, herpes zoster and cytomegaloviruses.

In Greek herpes means eruption and in common language this infection often takes different names such as "fever" or more imaginative terms such as "St. Anthony's fire"

The most common symptom of herpes is the appearance of small blisters on the skin, usually located on the lips (herpes labialis), on the genitals (herpes genitalis), or on larger surfaces of the body, such as the back and arms (herpes zoster or fire of Sant 'Antonio). There are also viral strains that can cause neoplasms or hepatitis (epstein barr, cytomegalovirus).