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Between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, the number of Americans with the virus that causes genital herpes increased by 30 percent, according to recent survey results. The increased incidence of herpes had potential implications for the spread of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). This article on the herpes survey first appeared in the October 1997 edition of the Encarta Yearbook.
About one in five Americans has contracted the virus that causes genital herpes, an increase of 30 percent since the late 1970s, according to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine on October 16, 1997.
The most dramatic infection rate increase occurred among young people. The infection rate among white teenagers nearly quintupled, and almost doubled among whites in their 20s.
Genital herpes is usually transmitted sexually and is characterized by recurrent genital lesions that are sometimes painful. It is caused by the herpes simplex virus type two (HSV-2) and, less frequently, by the herpes simplex virus type one (HSV-1). HSV-1 is commonly associated with fever blisters and cold sores. Herpes has no known cure.
The third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, examined blood samples from about 24,000 people to determine the incidence of the HSV-2 infection. The blood samples were collected between 1988 and 1994 and were compared with samples collected between 1976 and 1980.
According to the study, about 45 million Americans are infected with HSV-2. The virus is more common among blacks (45.9 percent) than whites (17.6 percent) and more prevalent among women (25.6 percent) than men (17.6 percent).
The study authors expressed concern that the soaring rate of HSV-2 infections could encourage the spread of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), because the lesions caused by HSV-2 make a person more vulnerable to the virus that causes AIDS.
About 90 percent of those who carry the HSV-2 virus do not know they are infected, the study found. The virus can be transmitted even when symptoms are not present.
Source: Encarta Yearbook, October 1997.
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Herpes; Gynecology; Sexually Transmitted Infections; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Virus (life science)
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