Blog
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- What's new in January - and does boozing cause sex?
- What we have been doing re the Northampton case
- STOP PRESS - He's out - bail granted 28th September
- On the 16th September
- Nigel on Five Live re the Northampton case
- What does the Northampton case mean for the future?
- Read our letter to the Times, written by Nigel Scott, our Head of information and Peter Greenhouse, the GUM consultant at Bristol
- What is happening this week
- More on Northampton case
- Update on Northampton case
- "Outrageous!" says doctor as Northampton man is sentenced
- Great wall of vagina - is it art or science?
- Anti-PR can be good PR
- Our advert should have won!
- Climb a mountain - hike to Machu Pichu - bike across to the Red City of Petra!
- Stand up to the comedians!
- Should we only date other people with genital herpes? Emphatically 'no'! But parties can be fun!
- Internship
- My fundraising course - a Santa Run?
- If you are looking for treatment and see the message below, go in the opposite direction as fast as possible
- A fool and his (or her) money are soon parted
- Giving a talk to Sexual Health Department clinic staff
- Our Wikipedia page
- Responding to the government's White Paper
- Helplining
What's new in January - and does boozing cause sex?
Happy New Year. Have you had your SPHERE magazine? Do you agree with the cover article about genetics - in other words, do you have family members who get cold sores (anywhere)? Check page 14 for the update on the legal case.
Did the stress of Christmas bring on an outbreak? Two years in a row, it affected me! I remember bagging the left corner of the sofa, so I could sit leaning on the left cheek of my bum as the other ached so much… That was how my prodromal symptoms showed themselves at that time. Now I use Lomaherpan immediately and it stops the symptoms.
Our helpline is inundated after the Christmas holidays - and not just ours, other sexual health/contraception helplines report the same. People have ‘made a mistake’ and want to ask if they are at risk, how long before they notice symptoms, how to explain a new case of genital herpes to a long-term partner. We are good at that! Call 0845 123 2305 if you need advice or information. And call 020 7607 9661 if you are interested in becoming a helpliner (You must have a landline.)
Question to you all: David Cameron has said that by cutting boozing, there will be a fall in 'unplanned sex' in other words, sex without condoms or contraception that could result in pregnancy or STIs. Do you think that boozing is the cause of the sex? Or do you think that it is the other way round? That is, people want to give themselves the excuse to have sex and so they drink because then they can say/think "I didn't mean it, I was sloshed." Comment in an email and I will upload them.
Marian Nicholson 6-1-2012
What we have been doing re the Northampton case
In the last few weeks we have been to meetings with other charities as well as a meeting with CPS officials and the Department of Health. Everyone is well aware of the controversy surrounding the case and reading between the lines, I'd say it appears that the CPS probably wishes that this case had never happened.
There has also been a meeting organised by the Department of Health and including the CPS, specialist sexual health doctors and other organisations. This indicates to me that there is a genuine desire to make sure that procedures and guidelines are in force and are adhered to so that future cases do not ‘slip through the net’ as this one did. It happened without the approval of the CPS Head Office and their expert on STIs. We also argued that in future, medical experts in cases of this type, should be drawn from a panel of specialist sexual health doctors who have been vetted and approved by BASSH for this task. Medical reports presented to the court should not include hearsay or unsubstantiated allegations.
We have the feeling that we are pushing at an open door here, so we fervently hope that this will have been the first and last UK genital herpes transmission conviction. If the conviction is ultimately quashed, it will be as if it had never happened and David will have his criminal conviction removed from the record.
Amen to that.
Nigel Scott (no relation!) 4-11-2011
STOP PRESS - He's out - bail granted 28th September
The CPS has asked an expert virologist to examine the medical evidence. This is a doctor who knows about herpes simplex and can point out the weakness in what the Judge was told during the trial in August.
If/When the sentence is quashed, David will no longer have a criminal record.
You can read more in the Northampton Chronicle and Echo's article.
Marian Nicholson 29-9-2011 I was at Keele University, giving a workshop on 'Helping your patients with herpes simplex' to doctors working in sexual health clinics and in primary care (GPs' surgeries) - it went well. I challenged them with "How do you help the person who wants to know how he can tell his new partner?" (I know they need this, because it is something that comes up on our helpline regularly.) I made sure that they understood that Caesarean-sections are no longer expected EVEN if a mum has an outbreak at the time of giving birth. We only had one hour, and since I can spend an hour on the phone to one caller (sometimes) you can see that we couldn't cover everything.
Naturally, they asked me about the case - see below if you don't know what I am referring to. I was able to update them with news that I cannot write about here - yet!!! Check back because as soon as I get the 'all clear' there's a bombshell (good one) coming!
We are writing the content of our next magazine, due out early October, which will cover the case and explain what the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is meant to do about transmitting STIs. It is gobsmacking how much the Northampton prosecutor did not follow the CPS's own guidelines!
Marian Nicholson 21-9-2011
Nigel on Five Live re the Northampton case
Fortunately we were not on at the same time - I spoke over the phone about half an hour after she was on. I was able to make most of the points I wanted to get across and did this by using the old politician's trick of not necessarily answering the question but saying what I wanted to say anyway. You can listen to it on iplayer until September 6th.
Click on Iplayer - Victoria Derbyshire 10.00am 31st August.
Cara Scott is on after 30mins in, Nigel is on at 1hr 36min.
Nigel Scott (no relation!) 1-9-2011
What does the Northampton case mean for the future?
We are grateful for the very nice comments we have received about our website - particular from our new readers. And we are sorry to have had some emails from people with really bad symptoms - especially if they have not been offered appropriate treatment - who therefore find it impossible to accept that most people carry this virus without being aware of it. You can comment in an email if you wish.
Marian Nicholson 26-8-2011
What is happening this week (read the 3 posts below too)
The charities are also really concerned that if people start to be routinely prosecuted for passing on STIs, then people will cease getting diagnosed; because people will think that if you don't know you have it you cannot be blamed for passing it on. This is of huge concern since there are many conditions that must be treated to avoid serious consequence: chlamydia is a major cause of infertility, gonorrhoea and HIV can kill, and certain warts are the cause of cervical cancer. It is essential that people continue to get screened for these conditions that often don't cause symptoms (until it is too late!)
Our targets now are:
- to get the CPS to insist that prosecutors contact them before starting to prosecute a case;
- to see if the Department of Health will join the charities in lobbing for the CPS to follow their own guidelines, because they need people to continue to be screened for STIs;
- to write a briefing paper for people with herpes simplex to link to this website;
- to write a briefing paper for police and lawyers on herpes simplex, its prevalence and how hard it is to prove from whom it came.
However, writing these papers, or any articles/letters to the media, are being hampered by the astronomical increase in phone calls that the helpline is getting. From the moment the Daily Mail got hold of the story last week, we have been getting three times higher number of calls. Fortunately, our helpline volunteers are being generous with their time!
Here's a great letter in the Metro - the writer who knows what she is talking about and was prepared to go public. Keep checking back here for links to more stories/letters in the newspapers: two have been recently sent off for publication.
Marian Nicholson 24-8-2011
More on the Northampton case (read the two posts below too)
The Yorkshire Star writer has also done his homework. We are heartened that not all papers are of the 'string'em up and throw away the key' brigade!
On Monday, we are meeting with doctors, health professionals and representatives from other health charities who have members could be criminalised in this way to discuss how we take this forward. Keep reading to see what we are planning.
Marian Nicholson 19-8-11 Update:
1. The case was not really "tried" as the man was "persuaded" to plead guilty. The doctor who gave a so-called report to the Court was not informed about herpes simplex and just spouted the usual stigma-stuff.
2. The doctors in the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV are so shocked that this had happened that they are talking about getting lawyers from the Medical Defence Unit to help get the law sorted out on what the guidelines should be on passing on STIs.
3. THT and other HIV charities are getting involved too - and have put their expert lawyer in touch with the man's family so that he can appeal the sentence if he wishes.
4. We have talked to the man's family and there is a lot of back-story to the replationship which the woman did not disclose to the journalist who wrote her side of the story in a magazine. If the full story had come out in Court, the case would no doubt have been somewhat different!
5. You can all take comfort from the fact that the guidelines for prosecution state: “The courts have recognised that person-to-person transmission of a sexual infection that will have serious, perhaps life-threatening, consequences for the infected person's health can amount to grievous bodily harm under the Offences against the Person Act” and if any lawyer bothers to defent his client, all the expert witnesses will repeast that HERPES SIMPLEX IS NOT GRIEVOUS...etc.
6. Our patron Dr Phil Hammond has a brilliant article about this in Private Eye - go and buy it now "Olympic Rehearsal" on the cover - his article is on page 10. Or read it on our Home Page link.
Marian Nicholson 17-8-11
Court sentences Northampton man
“The courts have recognised that person-to-person transmission of a sexual infection that will have serious, perhaps life-threatening, consequences for the infected person's health can amount to grievous bodily harm under the Offences against the Person Act”
“This is outrageous, says Dr Colm O'Mahony, the consultant in sexual health at Chester's hospital. "Will children also now be prosecuted for “giving” their friends chickenpox? For passing on head lice? For passing on a cold sore? Most people who have genital herpes don’t know it because even if they do get recurrences, it is such a trivial genital infection that they don’t notice it. It has exactly the same medical implications and consequences as an ordinary facial cold sore so in no way can it be construed as serious and it is an extraordinarily ill-informed comment to compare it to HIV. This case sets back the normalisation of this trivial infection by years. I had thought such a farcical scenario could only happen in America – never in Northampton! ”
See our full media release with comments from two other expert doctors here.
Marian Nicholson 10-8-11
Great wall of vagina - is it art or science?
Marian Nicholson 21-6-11 Another story has come from the US about someone being sued because he passed on genital herpes. Firstly, NOTE THAT, this has never happened in the UK. An expert told us he'd like to be asked for his opinion at such a trial as he'd explain why it was so laughable...
But we wanted to help ensure the story didn't go any further than the three tabloid papers who'd picked it up. We sent out a media release to all the journalists whose emails we have (about 50) explaining why they should not take it up: there is virtually NO WAY to prove that the 'victim' didn't have it before the sexual encounter. Read the full media release here.
Marian Nicholson 27-5-11
A competition to win advertising space worth £10,000 in the News of World: I couldn't resist! This is what we submitted to the judges... No, we didn't win. But wouldn't it have been brilliant to see a whole newspaper page like this?
You know someone with genital herpes.
But they probably haven’t told you…
Well, would you tell them?
When you find out that the friend you told that ‘herpes joke’ to has genital herpes will you be embarrassed?
How will you feel when you catch it? Herpes is common. 7 out of 10 people have it. Most of them call it a cold sore. Most people are not diagnosed because they haven’t noticed anything. Surprising?
Get the real facts from the HVA online or on phone.
Herpes – let’s get real it’s no big deal
Herpes Viruses Association - www.herpes.org.uk – 0845 123 2305
Helping people with herpes to help themselves
Marian Nicholson 1-4-11
Climb a mountain - hike to Machu Pichu - bike across the desert to the Red City of Petra!
Charity challenges are a brilliant way to raise money - walk the Great Wall of China - kayak the fjords of ... You get the picture.
You can do it for us - or rather our sub-charity the Shingles Support Society.
We have every possible level of challenge available - and they are all provided by a very reputable 'charity challenge' company so there will be no unexpected surprises. Take a look at what's on offer. The wilder your dream challenge, the more you will raise for us. Send me an email if you are interested.
Marian Nicholson 11-2-11
Ben Elton is touring in Australia and apparently he is making 'herpes' jokes. Readers of SPHERE will know that in November last year there was a major 'destigmatise herpes' campaign in Australia with $15,000 in prizes for the best 30 second video. See the videos on Live&Learn website.
I added my comment to a webpage where people were leaving criticism of Ben Elton's show - you can use this whenever you see any crass use of 'herpes' as a joke - or email me with the details, so I can go and leave this message:
"Spastics jokes have stopped - the cerebral palsy lobby have seen to that - so why do comedians think it is OK to make herpes jokes? Perhaps it is because people with genital herpes don't stand up for themselves. We had a great 'destigmatise herpes' campaign [in Australia] last year - seems that Ben Elton missed it!"
Marian Nicholson 10-2-11
Should we only date other people with genital herpes?
Emphatically 'no'! But parties can be fun!
I went to the H-ype event last Saturday. It was a 'wig party' and there were some superb wigs, and even costumes, on the hundred (or more) people I saw. My hair was sprayed blue and I also wore outrageous 'eyelash wigs' i.e. falsies a mile long in rainbow colours.
But I wondered again: should we encourage this sort of event?
You know that the internet is littered with dating websites for specialist markets. There's the "chubby lovers" site for men who like big women... There's the "dog lovers" site for the love-me-love-my-dog gang... for cyclists... for people in wheel chairs... There are sites for every condition you can think of and of course for people with STIs too.
Should there be specialist dating for people whose cold sores are 'lower down'? I was debating this with several people on Saturday at the pre-H-ype pub meeting. Some people say that when both partners know they have the same type of virus, then it can be ignored (and having the other type will give some protection too). Some avoid the possibility of relationships altogether for fear of telling anyone and/or a rejection. Others like the fact that they feel no obligation to talk about 'h' with people they meet at these events. Others say that it’s negative thinking to think that you can only date people who also know they have herpes simplex. I agree, it is not necessary to limit yourself to ‘people with h’. Also, I worry that some people will accept ‘second best’ just because their partner 'accepts me in spite of my herpes simplex’. This is negative thinking too!
I do understand! My main reason for joining the HVA back in 1982 was just so that I could find someone like me to date! I thought that this was a very rare condition and that by limiting myself in this way I was doing the right thing for the world.
But what happened, once I started to talking to the other members at the meetings, I soon learnt that this was a common condition that was usually so mild that people didn't get diagnosed. Everyone I talked to (who'd been a member for a while) had had what I was calling 'a normal sex life' i.e. unprotected sex with someone who didn't know whether they already had it or not. Took me quite a lot of conversations to really absorb what they were telling me about this.
My position now is that we are only different in that we know we have it. 7 out of 10 people are carriers who don't know... Mostly it gets passed on by people who don't know... So we can date anyone just like everyone else.
So, should their be special events for people with 'h'?
How many potential partners do we meet at work and in our social circles? For most of us: not many! So these social events give you a wider choice of people - people for whom herpes simplex is not relevant. You could just consider it an extension of your current social activities. Get involved! The more people who come to our events, the higher the potential for meeting your dream partner. (Or just get involved for the fun of it.) Over the years we have heard of dozens of happy relationships and marriages occurring as a result of meetings through the HVA. If you have not attended any social events - maybe you should consider doing so. It may well be a very positive and productive move - after all you have nothing to lose!
If you need help starting events up in your neighbourhood, get in touch with the HVA.
Marian Nicholson 1-12-10
Internship
Under 'Volunteering' on our 'What's New' page you will see that we have suggested a person could help fundraise for us, as a volunteer. You could get paid for this - or any other task that you would like to do for us. If you can get an application in to Vodaphone 'World of Difference' by the 23rd November [now it will have to be for next year?] - and we have suggestions to help you with this - you could earn £2500 (I think it is) for two months work. Check the Vodaphone website.
Marian Nicholson 10-11-10
Santa Claus Fun Run and other ideas
An inspiring day! I attended a training course for fundraisers and learnt lots of dos and don'ts... These suggestions will definitely make my funding requests more targetted. We want to raise an extra £1,500 per month to ensure our services to help people with genital herpes will continue - not a massive sum, I think you will agree. If you want to help keep us going, please donate, or bung a cheque (or even some stamps - we use a lot!) in the post.
A well as handy tips for writing winning funding applications, there were some madcap ideas! For instance, on Sunday the 5th of December 1,000 Santa-suited runners will descend on Greenwich Park to support a charity (not us!). Should we organise such a thing? We will be asking you to join the May/June British Skin Foundation run - in 6 sites round the country... Check back on the What's New page in the spring.
More prosaically, I am writing letters to some wealthy people to see if they will help. Elton John, of course, and others who are famous for philanthropy. If anyone has contact details for anyone "really rich" I'd be glad to hear it. For example the Contact the Stars website does not have details for Stephen Fry, he's so kind I'm sure he'd help if we asked!
I wonder if you have ideas about how our fundraising could be done? Email me if you do!
Marian 5-11-10
If you are looking for treatment and see the message below, go in the opposite direction as fast as possible
"A revolutionary breakthrough solution that is clinically-proven and doctor-endorsed is now available. The main question is whether a virus can be removed from the body. According to the doctor who invented the solution, the answer is a resounding ‘yes’. This is great news for those suffering with viruses in the body such as oral herpes, genital herpes, as well as HPV... The company has ramped up production and is ready to provide this solution and add to the thousands of satisfied customers who have removed unwanted viruses and toxins from the body."
Continuing on from my previous post, this is a scam with no basis in science whatsoever.
There are viruses that hide in the body. They will always remain there. Chickenpox, glandular fever, herpes simplex, as well as fungal infections like thrush. Most normal people have all these and more. ‘Treatment’ inventors use this message to scare patients but that does not make these facts important. These infections can't be removed from the body but most of them do very little and seldom affect general health.
Viruses are not the same as toxins which are waste materials that our bodies don't need. They are eliminated by our bodies' normal processes all the time. The idea that we need special treatment to remove toxins (as if our body isn't doing that anyway) is yet another fallacy.
Quack remedy salesmen (and they are usually men) often claim to eliminate the virus completely. This is impossible to prove until you are dead. They usually claim that you will never have another outbreak. Outbreaks usually slow down or stop anyway so how would you know if their treatment works? Real treatments work and they are scientifically tested. You can help your immune system by eating healthily, reducing stress and getting enough sleep. Call our helpline of you need more advice. The future is in your hands, not those of some quack "doctor".
Nigel Scott 22-10-10
A fool and his (or her) money are soon parted
A good news story this week tells of the work done by Rhys Morgan, a 15 year old from Cardiff with Crohn's disease, who is warning against a dangerous supposed "treatment". He was looking for something that might help him with his own condition and stumbled across MMS (in fact a bleach) and quickly realised that it is both useless and potentially dangerous.
An explanation of why MMS is a scam is here. The so-called 'miracle drug' has a website where its 'inventor' Jim Humble claims it is the answer for everything from AIDS to TB and including herpes. Humble also claimed to have used it to cure 2,000 malaria victims. However, student Rhys found that the FDA's website warned that MMS, "when used as directed, produces an industrial bleach that can cause serious harm to health." The British Food Standards Agency, meanwhile, warned that the drug could "cause severe nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea."
The teenager then posted a series of tweets on Twitter, prominent British science journalists picked up the story and the media followed. Rhys was even invited to publicise his warning on Radio 4's Today programme.
The internet is full of scam treatments and we are regularly asked about them by members and callers. They are usually expensive, may claim that they have discovered something that the drug industry wants kept secret, make extravagant claims, use words like 'cure', often don't tell you what the active ingredient is, use many testimonials and usually claim to treat many totally different conditions. Stay clear of them and call our helpline on 0845 123 2305 if you are not sure.
Good treatments should be available on prescription for those who need them. If you want to use complementary treatments, stick to those using well known herbs like melissa (lemon balm) but above all, get your head around it. Stress is the biggest cause of outbreaks. If you worry less, your immune system will improve and do the job for you.
Nigel Scott - 20th October 2010
back to top
Giving a talk to Sexual Health Department clinic staff
I love giving my PowerPoint presentation to staff at GUM clinics, knowing that this will help staff to help patients from the moment of diagnosis - or even before, since one of the things I say is "Patients with herpes simplex need to be seen while they have symptoms. How does your clinic facilitate that?"
They gasp when I tell them that one GP suggested to a lady with a recurrence of genital herpes during pregnancy, that "Perhaps you should get a termination." This is SO INCORRECT. Luckily in that case, the lady spoke to her midwife about it and midwife told her to call our helpline and so catasrphe was averted.
Because clinics only see the cases that are bad enough for the patient to notice, clinic staff can be amazed when I tell then that only one in five who have herpes simplex knows. And that a person can have a first outbreak many years after catching it. So it is NOT proof of infidelity.
Feedback from you on a good experience medical staff would be great: see our survey. Any bad experiences can be emailed to me at info@hva.org.uk and I will phone that clinic and offer to give them 'the talk'.
Marian Nicholson - 13th October 2010
Working on Wikipedia
Busy, busy - we are writing our Wikipedia page - yup, a page about the Herpes Viruses Association! Our kind patron, Dr Phil Hammond has a link off his Wiki page) to one labeled Herpes Viruses Association, which is, so far, empty. If you have an idea of what you'd like to see on that page, any questions you might have about the 'early days', let me know: Info@hva.org.uk
As part of finding references for what we are writing for Wiki, we have been digging to find the evidence that no one worried about herpes simplex before they invented the first antiviral medication: Zovirax (aciclovir). In an article entitled "Psychological morbidity at a clinic for STDs" published in 1975 - there is no mention of genital herpes! The researchers were interviewing people attending a GUM clinic to find out how worried/anxious/miserable they were about having an STI (that's the 'psychological morbidity') and 'herpes' was not mentioned in the report! This shows that the 'herpes hype' had not yet been created.
Marian Nicholson - 7th October 2010 IT'S DONE!!! It's up on Wikipedia now!
Responding to the government's White Paper
We have just finished a two page 'response' to the government's White Paper on the NHS reforms called "Liberating the NHS: commissioning for patients". Nigel read through all 66 pages of the White Paper and together we put together our comments about it. Mainly, we are bothered that there is NO MENTION of sexual health. This means that GPs may decide that to save themselves money when then are holding the purse strings, they will do all sexual health in the local surgeries. Not only will this mean they are less experienced than current, clinic-based doctors, but people may fear that local surgeries are not as confidential as the GUM clinics (sexual health departments based in hospitals). You can make comments about how you'd like to see sexual health services delivered on page 2 of our survey.
Nigel Scott and Marian Nicholson - 6th October 2010
Helplining
The helpline was busy today... Quite a few people phone up and say "I have talked to you before" and then I have to tell them them that I cannot remember! There are too many people and not many 'personal stories' are so different that I will remember the details! Quite frankly, it is probably a good idea I don't remember and they can tell me their story and ask their questions all over again... In the early days when I was in a state about it, I needed lots of 'talks' about... So I reassure them that it is OK for them to call again and to talk to all our helpliners (Tues, Wed and Thurs we have vounteers - Monday and Friday Nigel and I answer) as they will all have a slightly different way of expressing themselves.
Marian Nicholson - 6th October 2010
