Man gets prison for passing on STD

Cianos

Cianos wrote: »

Around 16% of people have herpes, so if you've slept with more than 6 people, chances are you have slept with someone with herpes. There's quite a big stigma around something that is in the vast majority of cases quite trivial.

Exactly. The stigma is the worst part of herpes. There's a whole lot of fuss and shame around something that's essentially an annoying skin condition. People don't react like this to cold sores - well, that's exactly what herpes is, a cold sore 'down there'. Cases like this one only serve to perpetuate the stigma and make people with herpes feel even more like freaks, IMO.

I don't know how this man was ever found guilty. With viruses, it's impossible to prove who got what from who. If this woman wasn't a virgin before she was with this man, it's entirely possible that she already had the virus anyway. I had a cold sore pop up randomly when I hadn't kissed anyone or shared a drink in well over 6 months, the same can happen with genital herpes or any virus. The truth is, this is the risk you take when you have sex. You can request your partner to have an STI screening but for the things they don't screen for (herpes, HPV and other skin conditions), you just have to cross your fingers. It's incredibly immature to blame your sexual partners for passing things on, especially in cases where they weren't aware they had the condition.

As for the person who brought up people 'giving you cancer' - are you aware that the VAST MAJORITY of men and women are infected with the strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer? Unless you're a virgin, you probably have it yourself, or have had it. How would you feel if a ex-girlfriend took you to court because she developed cervical cancer? The fact is that most people clear HPV from their bodies long before it does them any harm. It is a harmless virus for most people. If it causes problems for some people, that isn't the fault of the person they slept with. And I say this as someone who has had, and probably will still need, treatment for abnormal cells on the cervix. I wouldn't dream of blaming my partner for this. It's just one of those things. If you can't handle it, don't have sex. Taking someone to court for giving you HPV is like taking someone to court for sneezing on you and giving you the flu.

MagicSean

Shelby Green Gymnast wrote: »

I don't know how this man was ever found guilty.

The guilty plea probably played a large part.

Seanbeag1

Seanbeag1 wrote: »

The guilty plea probably played a large part.

It shouldn't have been brought to court in the first place, IMO. In this case, fine, it sounds like he did transmit it on purpose, but it sets a worrying precedent. There is still no proof whatsoever, unless the girl was a virgin beforehand, that she got herpes from him.

iguana

Shelby Green Gymnast wrote: »

People don't react like this to cold sores

Actually a lot of people do. Most people I know were incredibly conscious about avoiding cold sores when we were single. Anyone I know who is in a relationship where one partner gets cold sores (including my own marriage as my husband gets them) are very vigilant to avoid transmission. A close friend of mine who gets them has said she will never forgive herself if she passes them onto her husband and she hates the person who gave them to her. (She ended up in hospital with her primary infection because she was so sick with it.) Couples I know where both people have the infection do everything they can to avoid cross infection between them.

up for anything

g'em wrote: »

Read today that she's in a relationship now and has had a baby with her new partner - he knew from the start that she had it but it doesn't bother him, they're just careful when needs be.

I'm happy for her.

iguana

iguana wrote: »

Actually a lot of people do. Most people I know were incredibly conscious about avoiding cold sores when we were single. Anyone I know who is in a relationship where one partner gets cold sores (including my own marriage as my husband gets them) are very vigilant to avoid transmission. A close friend of mine who gets them has said she will never forgive herself if she passes them onto her husband and she hates the person who gave them to her. (She ended up in hospital with her primary infection because she was so sick with it.) Couples I know where both people have the infection do everything they can to avoid cross infection between them.

Well, most people don't. I do understand people trying not to get them, but it's really quite futile a lot of the time. They are so, so easy to get, that's why most people have the virus by the time they reach adulthood. I probably got mine from a routine 'greeting' kiss on the cheek while I was living in Belgium, but it could have been anything, really. I'm sure I shared cups and borrowed other girls' lip balm when I was in primary school. My granny gets cold sores and I'm sure she kissed me when I was a baby.

The things with cold sores is that they are often passed on when the other person has no symptoms, so unless you never kiss your partner, there's still a good chance of transmission, especially right before a cold sore pops up. I also avoid kissing my boyfriend or sharing food/utensils when I have a cold sore, but if I do pass it on, so what? There are FAR worse things to be concerned about and cold sores really are just one of those things you get in life. The majority of people who have the virus DON'T get outbreaks, so it's quite possible that my boyfriend already has the virus and just doesn't get symptoms.

Your friend who says she will 'never forgive herself' if she passes them on to her husband, well that's a massive overreaction. HIV? Hepatitis? Yes, I'd understand. Cold sores? Get some perspective. I thought I was a bit of a drama queen about these things, but jeez. The fact is, we don't and we can't live in a bubble. When you share your life with people, you sometimes pass things on. Hell, you can get plenty of much more dangerous and even potentially fatal things from strangers, just from sitting next to them on a train or plane. You can get nasty skin infections from shaking someone's hand. If you thought about all the nasties out there, you'd never leave the house.

iguana

Shelby Green Gymnast wrote: »

Your friend who says she will 'never forgive herself' if she passes them on to her husband, well that's a massive overreaction. HIV? Hepatitis? Yes, I'd understand. Cold sores? Get some perspective. I thought I was a bit of a drama queen about these things, but jeez.

Did you read the bit where I said her primary infection put her in hospital because she was so sick with it? You think someone who has to be hospitalised with a virus is a drama queen for not wanting to infect their loved ones with it? Seriously? The virus attacked her central nervous system and she was told she was very lucky to recover as completely as she did and that she wouldn't have if she had even been a few hours later in getting treated.

HSV-1 isn't always slightly irritating but benign. In fact there is mounting evidence that in people who carry gene allele APOE-ϵ4 HSV-1 increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. http://www.neurobiologyofaging.org/article/S0197-4580%2899%2900055-X/abstract

iguana

iguana wrote: »

Did you read the bit where I said her primary infection put her in hospital because she was so sick with it? You think someone who has to be hospitalised with a virus is a drama queen for not wanting to infect their loved ones with it? Seriously? The virus attacked her central nervous system and she was told she was very lucky to recover as completely as she did and that she wouldn't have if she had even been a few hours later in getting treated.

HSV-1 isn't always slightly irritating but benign. In fact there is mounting evidence that in people who carry gene allele APOE-ϵ4 HSV-1 increases the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. http://www.neurobiologyofaging.org/article/S0197-4580%2899%2900055-X/abstract

Yes, I did. It's understandable to feel like that but it's still crazy. Reactions like that are incredibly rare. There are people who get bad reactions to things most people tolerate perfectly well. It doesn't mean your friend has a super strain of herpes that will kill anyone who catches it. It means her body had a particularly bad reaction to the first outbreak and it's very, very, very unlikely that her husband would experience the same. The point is is that feeling guilty about transmitting a common virus like oral herpes is insane. It's just illogical. First of all, unless she never kisses her husband, there's not a lot she can do about it anyway. He's an adult, he has made the (logical) choice to accept the risk. Secondly, if he isn't already infected with HSV (and there's a very good chance that he is, unless he's been blood tested for it), he can still get it from being kissed on the cheek or from drinking out of a pub glass that hasn't been washed properly or any number of other ways. Finally, people with existing HSV-1 on the face are much, much less likely to get it on their genitals via oral sex. I know where I'd rather get it.

amacachi

I think it's time we were all just put in bubbles, save the courts hassle.

B_Fanatic

WHAT! Did no one else see that? The judge used LOVE as an excuse to bump up the sentence. Sure I agree he got off light, but the judge actually used love as an excuse for the sentence length....

While we're using love as a factor, why don't I get off light for killing my cheating girlfriend? What she did amounted to betrayel! (Hypothetical)

Mike 1972

Shelby Green Gymnast wrote: »

As for the person who brought up people 'giving you cancer' - are you aware that the VAST MAJORITY of men and women are infected with the strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer?

Isint there a vaccine for it ?

Tayla

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Isint there a vaccine for it ?

It only protects against 70% of the strains.

Stinicker

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Isint there a vaccine for it ?

It is only effective when administered to virgins, (seriously)! because once you have slept with 3 or 4 people you are pretty much certain to have HPV, there are multiple types of HPV some causing genital warts and others being dangerous for cervical cancer. This is why they are administering the vaccine to kids at such a young age, because by the time they learn to take sexual health seriously they will have been infected with the virus.

Mike 1972

Stinicker wrote: »

This is why they are administering the vaccine to kids at such a young age, because by the time they learn to take sexual health seriously they will have been infected with the virus.

Actually they are only giving it to which is a tad stupid given that the HPV virus can cause cancers in other parts of the body besides the cervix