(Photo by Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images)
Singer and America’s Got Talent judge, Melanie “Mel B” Brown of the Spice Girls mega-group fame says her vision has been restored after she was temporarily blinded last week.
The singer went to the hospital on Friday, May 17th complaining of being blinded in her right eye. A rep for the Spice Girls told People.com that Brown, 43, was diagnosed with iritis and uveitis, a form of eye inflammation.
“She’s doing fine now, she’s not blind,” a source close to Brown told PEOPLE.com on Monday. “This has happened before. She has herpes in her eye, so this can happen.”
But Brown herself said that this has never happened before. She explains in an Instagram post below:
“Just so you know the real truth. I had an awful experience last week when I went blind in my right eye and my left eye went blurry. Even though the stupid press said I’m ok and this has happened to me many times before, just to be clear I was NOT ok and this has NEVER EVER happened to me before, so whoever is selling this story “a close reliable source” is full of BS and needs to get their silly facts right big time, I was actually in a lot of pain and very very scared but thanks to the incredible eye specialists in A&E at London’s Moorfields Hospital and after at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital I was diagnosed by an eye specialist with severe IRITIS in my right eye and UVEITIS in my left eye.
I’m taking multiple prescription heavy duty eye drops and other medication the dr gave me that I have to take every day to keep the inflammation under control. Also, I’m being so well looked after by Team Spice special thanks to our paramedics too!! I’m still dealing with it and will be for the next 3/4 months to fully get it under control but I’m no longer worried…”
(Photo credit: MelB Instagram)
It doesn’t matter if it happened before or not, the real question is how can a person get herpes in the eye, how does this happen?
Well, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the herpes simplex virus is a common virus that affects many people. Caused by the type 1 herpes simplex virus, eye herpes or ocular herpes is a recurrent viral infection affecting the eyes. This type of herpes virus can cause inflammation and scarring of the cornea that sometimes is referred to as a cold sore on the eye.
Two major herpes simplex virus types exist:
(Photo credit: MelB Instagram)
It often lays dormant in the nerve cells and can travel along the nerves to the eye when activated.
A person may get the herpes virus after it has been released via nasal secretions or spit. This is especially true when…
…a person has a cold sore.
The virus within the secretions can then travel through the body’s nerves, which can include the eye nerves.
When a person gets herpetic eye disease herpes, they can experience a variety of symptoms. These can be in both eyes, but often one eye is affected more than the other.
Some of the symptoms depend on what part of the eye is affected. Examples of these symptoms include:
Sometimes a person may also experience herpes sores on top of the eyelids. These may resemble a rash that has blistering. The blisters will form crusts that usually heal within 3 to 7 days.
If the herpes virus affects the cornea, the inside of the eye, or the retina, a person may find their vision is reduced.
Herpes, in general, is hitting the Black community hard. Like HIV and other STIs, African Americans have disproportionately higher rates of herpes. A contested 2010 CDC study found that 48 percent of black women tested positive for HSV-2. Also, herpes can increase your risk of contracting HIV.
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