Carrie
Teacher In Complaint
Sep 28 2010, 07:15:34 PM

Megan, the location on the body is not relevant, BECAUSE THE 2 ACT SIMILAR. You said so yourself. Please refrain from childish insults in this forum.

Who said anything about having her fired? Are you all crazy? I stand by my initial statement which I have thoroughly researched and verified by many independent sources. Megan you are incorrect, it is not probable, nor likely, that my child has already been infected.

Only 20% of children in middle income areas have HSV-1. Much less have HSV-2 of course. Do the research from a trusted source.

Sarah
A Student
Sep 28 2010, 07:18:23 PM

I am a student in her class. Megan how would you like to have Herpes? If you already do, and if you are single, how much would you like to get rid of it? We have a right to avoid these diseases.

Amy
Anonymous
Sep 29 2010, 06:02:07 AM

Actually Carrie, your own source says that 20% of middle class children have HSV by the age of five. It is quite another thing to say that only 20% of middle class children have HSV period. Also how does stating that HSV1 and HSV2 "act" similar support your statement that location isn't relevant. I don't know what point you're trying to make.
Additionally, many Americans do have HSV (1 or 2). It sounds like the parents on this website are confident that they are educated about this virus, but really the points you are making are quite pointless. Carrie, you say you're educated by multiple independent sources. You provided a link in a previous post that provided contradictory statistics as well as statistics that were taken out of context. This leads me to wonder how well you are actually understanding what you're reading. If there are other sources that clearly support what you're saying, please provide them for the rest of us to educate ourselves.
Sarah, as pleasing as it is to me to see a student participating, herpes sounds like a really scary thing which I can understand. In fact, if you have had chicken pox or Epstein-Barr, then you also have a life long infection with a herpes virus.
Carrie, you claim you don't want this teacher to be fired, fine. Why are you on this site? To educate other parents? To embarrass the teacher? If it is the former, then no real education has been provided. I find it interesting that since a sore appeared on the face of this particular individual that it has been deemed news worthy on a public post. You've said yourself, Carrie, that location doesn't matter. So have you considered other faculty members that do not present with visible outbreaks? Are you wanting teachers to now be required to disclose their HSV status? What is the point of this?
Perhaps Megan went on a tirade but she brought this site up to me and I decided to check it out. We are both microbiologists at UC Berkeley and it makes me nervous to see statistics taken out of context or skewed to support unsound statements.
So what are you all going to do now? Sarah, you say you want to avoid these diseases. How? You claim you have a right to avoid these diseases but really your right is to avoid the teacher by opting to switch teachers, switch schools, etc. Are you perhaps thinking that you as a student have a right to be taught by someone without a disease? I will let you ponder the legality of this idea while you're watching "Philadelphia;" it is a story of a man who sues his employer (and wins) for an illegal termination that was based on the grounds of a misunderstood illness.
I printed out this thread in its entirety and took it to my public health class. We discussed the gaps in public education that seems to be rampant as well as the impacts that is has on the individuals with these diseases.It made for an interesting discussion.
In response to your question, Sarah,(and apologies that I cannot answer for Megan, though I will tell her there are responses to her posts) I do have HSV1 and HSV2. I am also engaged to a man I have been with for seven years. He is negative for both and we want it to stay that way. Would I want to have access to a cure. Of course! Would you want a cure to your cold or flu that plagues you every year? How about when you have a stomach virus? Still want a cure? Since I have had both a bad stomach virus and HSV outbreaks, I dare say that the stomach virus was more miserable for me personally.
Carrie, one last thing. As I read Megan's post, it was...passionate. Childish? Perhaps. But take a step back and realize you're on a public post talking about your child's teacher, a woman (one in millions mind you) who has herpes. Your words of wisdom have been used as a learning tool in a public health class to epitomize what can happen when there is a lack of knowledge. From all this, I really hope you can at least sit down with your child and provide information that not only addresses the nature of illness and disease but also how one can be tactful towards individuals with disease (i.e don't post on a public website medical information about another person).

P.S. **My Sources**

Pathologic Basis of Disease 6th ed.
by Cotran et al.

In response to transmission:
http://www.herpes.com/Transmission.shtml

Anecdote about living with HSV:
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/teen-talk/safer-sex-std/herpes/life-herpes-25411.htm

Here's a government site that discusses stigma:
http://www.herpesite.org/overview-of-herpes-infections.html

Have a nice day.

Amy
Anonymous
Oct 04 2010, 10:59:43 PM

As a side note, Epstein-barr is quite transmittable and it is a been found to be capable of instigating certain types of cancers. On the other hand, HSV 1 and 2 seems to be extremely feared but only really causes blisters. Interesting.

johnny
A Parent
Jan 20 2011, 03:59:35 PM

It's called an STD, meaning sexually transmitted disease. It's spread through skin to skin contact, so unless this mom is worried about her son making out with the teacher while she has sores, she needs to buzz off. The chances of her son catching it otherwise is equivalent to him winning the lottery, etc. Take it from a doctor, and leave the teacher alone. I'd almost call what the mom's doing harrassment. She needs to find better things to worry about and get a job/life.