Herpes. Herpes, a word we all know, something that is made fun of by the most vulgar comedians, a suggestion of a dissolute lifestyle, a complex virus that has only recently been seen as something feared since the early 1970s as a target of money for pharmaceutical companies. Yet it is so common that it is mentioned by Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet, and it is a virus known throughout the world and almost everyone has experienced it in one way or another. According to Medline Plus, the herpes simplex virus, also known as HSV, causes the infection known as Herpes. There are two types of HSV; there is oral herpes that causes cold sores around the mouth or face and oral herpes, or HSV 1, usually causes cold sores, however it is quite easy to transmit this disease to the genital area and can cause genital herpes. There is also HSV 2 which is the usual cause of genital herpes and, like HSV 1, HSV 2 can infect the mouth. HSV 2 is also known as genital herpes and can affect the anal area, buttocks or genitals. This is a sexually transmitted disease, but there are other herpes infections that can affect the eyes, skin, or other parts of the body. Herpes can be dangerous in newborns or in individuals with weak immune systems. The herpes virus actually belongs to a family of viruses that includes 8 different viral strains that affect humans. Viruses are known by the numbers 1 to 8 or HHV1-HHV8. HHV 1 and 2 are listed above while HHV 3, known as varicella zoster virus, and which causes chickenpox. HHV 3 can also cause a recurring skin infection known as herpes zoster or shingles. HHV 4 is known as the Epstein Barr virus and is responsible for easily spread mononucleosis, commonly called “mono”. HHV 5 is known as… middle of the paper… and making people aware that it is more common than they think and that a rather large portion of America is affected by this disease, whether they know it or not. This article also discussed how the virus may affect some individuals more easily than others based on an individual's and families' genetic makeup. Works Cited University of Utah Health Sciences (2008, January 31). Genetic link to human susceptibility to herpes found. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 13, 2014, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/01/080128121703.htmDr. Kinghorn, G. (2014, January 14). Dr. George Kinghorn: “an update on herpes simplex.” Retrieved from http://www.herpes.org.uk/art_kinghorn.htmlWhitley, R.J. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8157/National Institutes of Health. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/herpessimplex.html