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Avatar universal

humira and herpes

a friend of mine was telling me humira can cause herpes?  i currently have been taking humira for about a year. i have not been sexually active in that time. i googled the topic, some sites say you can.  Am i misreading the information? Can the actual shot give someone gential herpes or is just that in taking the drug outbreaks more likely to occur and easier to catch? Can you only catch genital herpes throught sexual contact?
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Avatar universal
I just looked this up.  I am trying to research the cornea transplant rejection that is causing the use of massive doses of cortisone. I was trying to assess the risk of catching herpes virus for which reason I needed the transplant in the first place.  I want to know if reducing the immnue system or knocking it out ala Humira leads to herpes outbreaks.  And does Aclyvoir help stave off these outbreaks.  I guess I will  have to gamble and see and let you know the results later.  But I am also taking Aclyvoir.  If you had chicken pox as a child then the herpes is already in your system.  If you have never been sexually infected you probably won't get it.
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1998092 tn?1391242845
There have been adverse reactions in the form of HSV outbreaks officially reported with Humira use, however these have been rare. I'm sorry if you're one of the cases that experienced this.
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Avatar universal
I hve hsv1&2 for over 6 yrs nw ,no flare up for two yrs.I just started humira then out the blue I flared up,nw I'm due for my 15th day injection but hve to wait for my Doc to call to let me know if I'm able to continue the humira injection wth this active virus.I think the humira reactivated the virus,wow! What u suspect she'll say?
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Avatar universal
I hve hsv1&2 for over 6 yrs nw ,no flare up for two yrs.I just started humira then out the blue I flared up,nw I'm due for my 15th day injection but hve to wait for my Doc to call to let me know if I'm able to continue the humira injection wth this active virus.I think the humira reactivated the virus,wow! What u suspect she'll say?
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Avatar universal
thanks for your attention to the matter , i do appreciate the research you put in for me!
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101028 tn?1419603004
perhaps it causes false positives on herpes testing?  I took about 20 minutes to search online and can't find any valid info on it being an issue at all. Of course it seems a lot of folks have the same questions you do after reading humira info online - found a lot of questions asking if humira causes herpes.  

If you already have herpes simplex, either orally or genitally,  it could cause it to reactivate. Most people never get tested for herpes to know that they have it.  statistically 1 out of every 2-3 of us has hsv1 and 1 out of every 4-5 has hsv2 - a lot of folks who take humira, are already going to have herpes whether they know it or not!    Of course you also can contract herpes simplex, either orally or genitally, while taking humira too.  

It also can cause shingles to occur - you'd have to have had chicken pox in the past before starting humira in order to have a shingles reactivation.  
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Avatar universal
yes grace that helps alot...just to add one thing, the article said the shot contained ingredeints that could develop herpes anti-bodies or shingle anti-bodies?  im guessing that is not true, from your first response if it were true what would that mean? is that the same as having herpes? thanks again that is why im coming here to get the real answers from medical professionals ?
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101028 tn?1419603004
herpes is a viral infection. It doesn't come out of nowhere. to answer your question, no, humira doesn't cause herpes infections. since it lowers your immune system, it can cause you to contract infections of any kind easily.

when you meet someone you are interested in and things seem like intimacy is on the horizon,  be sure to talk about std's and testing to see who has what.

oral herpes is contracted from kissing as an adult. genital herpes is contracted from receiving oral sex as well as from anal/genital sex. it's not something you contract without direct skin on skin contact.

hope that helped clear that up for you!

grace
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