Friday, January 15, 2010

Herpes -Are You At Risk?

By Harold Ulvaeus

Genital Herpes, having a bit of social stigma attached to it, may not be something openly discussed. The truth is that Herpes is much more common than most people think. In the US alone, there is estimated to be 50 lillion infected with the disease.

Being diagnosed with Genital Herpes can be a real shock for many. Emotions of feeling unclean, shame, and less worthy are common.

If you have been diagnosed with genital herpes, or suspect that you are infected, you have a lot more company than you may suspect. Take a look at some of these numbers:

Approximately one in four women and one in four men in the United states are infected with Genital Herpes. That is 20% of our population. The infection is spreading at the rate of an estimated one million new cases per year.

Genital herpes is more prevalent than all other viral sexually transmitted diseases put together. Since a very low number, around 20 percent, know that they are infected it means that many millions are inadvertently infecting their partners with herpes.

While the disease is more contagious during an outbreak, the virus can be spread when there are no symptoms present at all.

Not everyone infected with the virus will have outbreaks after the initial episode. For those infected with the Herpes Simplex type 2 (HSV-2) virus approximately 80% will have at least one additional reoccurrence, and those infected with Herpes Simplex type-1 have only a 50% rate of reoccurrence. The average number of outbreaks is around 4-5 per year.

While it can be tempting to self diagnose, using pictures found on the internet as a comparison, Herpes should be diagnosed by an experienced clinician utilizing proper testing.

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