WHO Says Two-Thirds of World Population Under 50 Have HERPES

Oh dear. According to the World Health Organisation your chances of contracting the herpes simplex virus are higher than ever before as they have revealed that two thirds of people under 50 are infected. And taken together, our two estimates of HSV-1 and HSV-2 genital infections indicate that over half a billion people have genital HSV infection.

It turns out two-thirds of the world’s population under the age of 50 already has the herpes virus. According to World Health Organization, an estimated 140 million people between 15 and 49 years old have genital HSV-1 infections.

Little is known about any link between HSV-1 and HIV/AIDS, although it can lead to other serious complications such as encephalitis, a serious illness causing inflammation of the brain.

Usually genital herpes is caused by type 2 of the herpes simplex virus (HSV-2), a virus said to increase the risk of catching HIV.

HSV-2 is traditionally called genital herpes, and it’s the kind most people think of as causing sexually transmitted infections.

Both are “highly infectious and incurable, ” and while HSV-1 is primarily transmitted by oral-oral contact and in most cases causes orolabial herpes or “cold sores” around the mouth, HSV-2 is nearly entirely sexually transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, causing genital herpes.

But – and this is where things become slightly terrifying – HSV 1 is increasingly to blame for genital sores as well. Several candidate vaccines and microbicides are now being studied.

The majority of genital herpes infections go unrecognized and undetected because most people have no pronounced symptoms, Wyand said. Recurrences of genital herpes due to HSV-1 are generally much less frequent than for HSV-2.

Most people contract HSV-1 in childhood, through skin-to-skin contact with an infected adult.

Nathalie Broutet, also a WHO medical officer, said the U.S. National Institutes of Health and companies including GlaxoSmithKline Plc were involved in trials to determine whether a therapeutic or preventative vaccine was preferable. It urges people with herpes to abstain from sexual activity with partners when sores or other symptoms are present.