According to WHO and according to a number of foreign authors, more than 3 billion middle-aged people in the world are carriers of the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). About half a billion people on the planet are infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), the age of these people mainly corresponds to the age group from 15 to 50 years. It is known that HSV-2 more often affects women, since during sexual contact the infection is more often transmitted from man to woman. The prevalence of HSV-2 increases with age, however, adolescents often become infected with this infection. Approximately 70% of pathological conditions caused by HSV are asymptomatic or accompanied by few symptoms and may remain unrecognized. Research has shown that HSV-2 can be co-infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV), leading to an even higher risk of developing cervical cancer. According to official data, herpes cannot be completely cured; doctors’ efforts are usually aimed at treating the symptoms of HSV. A promising direction in the treatment of recurrent herpes on the lips seems to be the use of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photobiomodulation (PBM). PDT and PBM have been shown to have good results in relieving symptoms of simple hepatitis, accelerating healing, and reducing relapse rates without side effects. Effective HSV prevention measures include screening, use of diagnostic tools, contact tracing of sexual partners, promotion of effective barrier contraception, and appropriate counseling. Currently, many new preventive and therapeutic strategies for the treatment of HSV are in development, and mechanisms of drug resistance and associated mutations in the viral genome are being studied.

herpes, herpetic disease, herpes simplex virus, oral herpes, genital herpes, prevalence, treatment, photodynamic therapy, prevention.