Little-Known Facts About Herpes

Herpes is a very common disease, but there aren’t too many people who are aware of how the virus works. They only know that it is sexually transmitted and that it causes nasty outbreaks but they know nothing beyond the obvious. In this article, we are going to tackle little-known facts about herpes.

Why 3.7 Billion Have Herpes

Shocking numbers have revealed that approximately 2/3 of people under the age of 50 are estimated to be infected with a form of the herpes virus. We are talking about 3.7 billion people here. So why is the number so high?

Well, according to herpes experts, the numbers are high, but not everybody who is infected has symptoms. Only 1 out of 12 people who have herpes is aware that they have the disease. So there’s a huge ocean of people who are carriers of the virus and have no idea about it.

Most of these oblivious people have Type 1 herpes (HSV-1) which causes cold sores, and about 20% of the population have genital herpes. Many of these people don’t necessarily have symptoms at all, and only a small percentage of people get the actual outbreaks.

Herpes in the Younger Generation

When people are very young, they get Type 1 Herpes because of the oral secretions being shared like the sexual activities they have and poor oral hygiene. It has gotten better over the years in developed countries regarding the rates of people acquiring it when they’re very young. But the experts did notice in their studies that Type 1 Herpes seems to increase in developed countries because of changes in sexual practices where there is the most sexual transmission of both Type 1 and Type 2 Herpes.

Type 1 Herpes can Lead to Genital Herpes in Some Cases

Most of the genital herpes is due to Type 2 Herpes (HSV – 2). Type 2 herpes is the type of herpes that occur very frequently. Type 1 Herpes typically causes cold sores, but because people are now having sexual practice changes as they get older, we are now seeing more Type 1 Herpes causing genital Herpes.

The concern with this is that Type 1 Herpes if you have a pregnant mom with Type 1 Herpes, is more likely going to be transmitted to the newborn during the birthing process. It is important to note though that it is still a very rare event to see a newborn with herpes being acquired from a mother. But this is the concern with this report – that we might see more newborn herpes because there’s more Type 1 Herpes causing genital herpes where a pregnant mom unknowingly passes it to the baby.

Herpes is Incurable

Many don’t know it, but the fact is once you have Hepres, you have the disease for life. Herpes is with you forever. That’s why there are so many people who are infected. But when we say infected it doesn’t necessarily mean that they have symptoms. It’s a type of virus where once you get it you don’t have the ability to cure it. It goes through a dormant state, and different individuals react to the virus in different ways. Some get reactions once in a blue moon, and some may not even react to it, but they shed the virus from time to time.