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History

What caused the rash?

A vaginal yeast infection, unlike herpes, is not a sexually transmitted disease. It is caused [1] Genital Herpes – CDC Detailed Fact Sheet https://www.cdc.gov/std/herpes/stdfact-herpes-detailed.htm by fungal (yeast) overgrowth due to a change in the normal vaginal pH. The most common causes are recent antibiotic intake, oral contraceptive or other hormonal medication use, pregnancy, diabetes, or even sexual activity or a high-carbohydrate diet.

How soon does the rash appear?

The incubation period is the same for yeast infection and genital herpes–3 days. [1, 5] Genital Herpes – CDC Detailed Fact Sheet
https://www.cdc.gov/std/herpes/stdfact-herpes-detailed.htm
Vaginal yeast infection
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/5019-vaginal-yeast-infection Therefore, this is not a differentiating factor.

How are symptoms evolving?

There is a significant difference in how these two conditions progress over time.

✓ Both conditions begin with a mild itch, but then symptoms progress differently.
With a yeast infection, the entire vulva and vaginal area become even itchier and red and swollen. Abundant thick white discharge ( “cottage cheese”) is usually present. [4] Yeast infection (vaginal) https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/yeast-infection/symptoms-causes/syc-20378999 With herpes, the initial itch progresses to painful skin lesions that progress through multiple stages over a few days: bumps, blisters, sores, and crusted sores. Herpes lesions, unlike yeast infections, are mostly one-sided clustered lesions with minimal swelling of the underlying skin.

✓ The prodrome period also differentiates these two conditions before the symptoms appear. With a yeast infection, nothing happens before the main symptoms. However, with herpes, the lesions can be preceded by flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, fatigue, and tingling of the skin (“nerve pain”) on the side of the evolving skin lesion. [2] Genital Herpes Symptoms, Pictures, and Treatment https://www.webmd.com/genital-herpes/ss/slideshow-genital-herpes

✓ Unlike yeast infection, herpes presents with painful groin lymph node enlargement, usually on the side of the rash.

✓ Most yeast infections heal within 1–3 days, but a herpes outbreak takes at least a week.

These pictures show the differences between herpes and yeast infection.

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View Photos

Herpes

Herpes

Vaginal Yeast Infection

Yeast Infection

Visual exam

What do the lesions look like?

Herpes-infected skin changes over time and can present as bumps, blisters, or crusted sores. [3] Genital herpes: Overview https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK525769/ Any of these will be clustered together on the same red base. Yeast infection, on the other hand, presents with redness and swelling of the vulva and vagina. If it is left untreated, sores might appear.

How much skin is affected?

Herpes lesions are usually confined to a smaller skin area and are typically one-sided. Unlike it, yeast infection affects the entire area of the vulva and vagina.

What is discharge from the lesions like?

Discharge is an important differentiating factor between the two conditions.

✓ The discharge from a yeast infection is very abundant, white, and thick. It presents most of the time and gets worse as the disease progresses.

✓ Herpes discharge is very short-lived, minimal, and has a watery consistency.

Source

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