Cold Sores(Herpes 1)
 

Hello, I would like to know, if pilots with cold sores(herpes simplex 1 virus) are allowed to pilot, or at least get a job in major airlines companies and are not discriminated, thank you very much !

Herpes simplex virus I or II are not going to stop you from getting an airline job.

HIV on the other hand, will probably preclude you from flight deck jobs.

thank you very much ! I got a syndrome of coldsores once in a while, and I don't know if that's good for my image and had doubts about it before entering aviation career

Herpes
 

I used to get herpes really bad rarely a week went by when i didnt have one, one even covered virtually my whole nose EEK! but went to the doctors got the whole end of your DNA no treatment speech but I did get a nice load of zolvarx or zyclavor, just everytime you get or feel like your getting one plaster it in zolvaraz and try to cover the most common areas in sunscreen this did the trick for me and I havent had a coldsore now for about 1&1/2 years.

Nothing in JAR FCL 3 or the FAR's about cold sores. You can hold a license and you can take a job. You just wont pull quite so many cabin crew when your face looks like you tried to drink sulphuric acid :eek:

Want to find advice on how to prevent the sores, and minimise the effects once you have them? Best place in the world to look is web forums for professional symphony wind players -- cold sore lesions can have major effects on playing brass and reed instruments.

Basics:
Get them once, got them for life. Then, cold sore outbreaks usually follow after you put some stress on your body.

Avoid:
Eating chocolate. Getting sunburned on face, lips or nose. Excessive alcohol consumption. Generally allowing yourself to be 'run down', insufficient rest, etc.

Junk food - burgers, tacos, pizza, anything that is pre-made and 'cooked' by heating it in a microwave. Fries/chips, sweets/candy, soda/softdrink. In other works, fast foods and highly processed foods. How do you tell? Fresh foods need to be peeled, or carved, squeezed, etc. Not opened as in opening the plastic or other man-made container!

Do:
Eat a balanced diet. Include fruits, grains, cereals. Learn to cook or prepare your own meals. Take adequate rest. Exercise (general well being, and to avoid cumulative effects of workplace stress).

Prophylactics:
L-lysine (lysine hydrochloride) amino acid supplements are favoured by some cold sore sufferers as a preventative dietary supplement. Cheap and can be found in supermarkets.

Warning signs:
Appearance of cold sore vesicles often preceded by 'pins-and-needles" sensation in affected area. I have found that immediately applying an ice cube to the affected area continuously for 30 minutes or more can limit the size of sores.

Applying medicated creams (Zovirax is good) is also very effective in early stages. Betadine iodine solution is popular among professional musicians.

Yes, I get them :(

Worst outbreaks tended to be in teenage years. Cannot say whether that was due to all the crazy things that your body does when it reaches that stage -- most likely it was all the rubbish I ate and the unhealthy lifestyle!

I find that cold sore outbreaks are a very good indicator that I have been under pressure, or haven't been looking after myself.

Give up chocolate, give up junk food, limit yourself to 3 alcoholic drinks in any one day and 6 in any one week, wear sunscreens on nose and lips, and get good rest.:ok:

Jesus Christ!

What on earth could cold sores have to do with a class1 medical?????

How about Athlete's Foot, Halitosis, zits or Tennis Elbow?

Dirty fingernails, sweaty pits anyone???

Not brushed yer teeth today?

Get real. people!



Ps. Not planning to snog the chief pilot, were you?

I've been told they can "wander South".

WrongWay - only if your companion "goes South" while their herpes is live...

inconsistency . . . . . . . . . ?
 

"Snogging", "wandering south", just what is this thread all about ?

What a pity nobody has even mentioned the REAL danger of herpes - viz the abysmal habit of some mean airlines in making pilots share headsets in common. Earpieces may be wiped, but that foam on the mic ? What if the last guy in your seat had herpes simplex sores on the lips ?

AME --> exactly my thoughts. Headsets would be a prime vector.

HSV I used to infect upwards of 90% of adults. Now it's around 50%. I understand that the decrease in percentage has had the side effect of increasing the number of Herpes I "Down South" cases, and oral Herpes II cases. What either of them has to do with the ability to operate an aircraft is beyond me.

The worst bout is usually the first.

(No, I don't have any form of it. Yet)

Don't underestimate Herpes!
 

Herpes simplex 1 virus is very relevant to pilots – it can lead to a career threatening situation by degradation of sight. This virus lives in mucus membranes, such as the lips and eyes. It is very easily spread from the lip to the eye (75mm apart) by a casual touch. One established in the eye the virus lies dormant until triggered by some event. It can rapidly (within 12 hours) lead to keratitis (inflammation of the cornea) which in turn can rapidly develop into a corneal ulcer. This is a very painful complaint and is accompanied by severe photophobia, and a temporary loss of sight. The condition is curable but requires aggressive treatment. However the recovering cornea usually develops scarring, and if this is in the line of site, eyesight is permanently degraded. It is the most common infective cause of blindness due to corneal disease in high-income countries.

Do not confuse herpes simplex 1 virus (HSV-1) with genital herpes (HSV-2).

Once established in the eye it is difficult (impossible?) to remove the virus, and it has a high rate of occurrence (67% re-occurrence after 7 years with increasing risks after each episode).

Trigger factors include stress and sunlight or other source of UV light. (An aircraft flight deck provides plenty of both!) Other triggers include trauma (including contact lens damage), fever or illness, cold wind and surgery.
My advice (oh yes, I’ve suffered!) is to treat cold sores as a potential death sentence. You cannot over-react to a cold sore on you or another. Fastidious personal hygiene must be practised at all times. Avoid cross contamination between lip and eye at all costs! If you have had a previous episodes of a cold sore, avoid trigger factors. Wear sun block on lips and sun-glasses with a high UV factor that block 99 - 100% of UV-A and UV-B, which can cause cataracts and other eye health problems. Wear wrap around or “aviator” style glasses that give full coverage to the eyes. I believe that it is possible to obtain high UV screening coatings to ordinary clear glasses.

End of lecture.

WP

I should like to see a justification of that claim.

"Plenty", via sunlight, through a 2 inch thick letterbox of glass?

"Other source"??? Of UV? Where from?
UV????? Or are you just confusing UV with warm sunlight.....?

Ultraviolet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WP


(UV isn't warm)

(sorry, link directly to article does not work) relevant piece below

The concentration of ultraviolet (UV) rays -- the ones that can cause sunburn, skin cancer, and other problems -- is greater at altitude than on the ground. The higher up you go, the less of the Earth's atmosphere you have between you and the sun. The atmosphere normally acts to filter out some of the sun's rays before they reach the ground.

Pilots are exposed to substantial doses of UV rays through the flight deck windscreen while flying. This can lead to skin damage of several varieties, ranging from premature aging and wrinkles to skin cancer.

UV rays also can do serious damage to the damage the eyes, causing cataracts, a disorder that clouds the lens of the eye and may ultimately result in partial or full blindness. UV exposure also can cause inflammation of the corneas, the irises, and the membranes that line the eyelids.

UV radiation is not warm!

There are debates as to the amount of UV experienced by flight crews, but a basic risk assessment goes like this:- UV is not good and can produce devastating sight problems. To control this risk is so easy and cheap, you'd be foolish not to.

http://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/pil...sunglasses.pdf

WP

Ag bi has deleted sarcastic reference to UV from cathode ray tubes, probably because he's found out that CRT do produce some UV radiation!

Depends what you're planning on doing in the flightdeck...:E