Can someone explain this to me? If 70% of the population have oral herpes by the time they are thirty, why don't more people have genital herpes? I mean its fair to guess that of the 70% at least 60% have performed oral sex?Even without cold sores present you still shed, do you not? So how is it not being passed on?
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Herpes Confusion?
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I've seen these numbers too.. I'll bet they are over dramatized and a lot of hype. How do you really know that 70% of the population is infected?? Has 70% of the population gone to a doctor and sought treatment?
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Holy crap. At least I'm not alone. I hate cold sores:(
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I agree that those numbers don't seem credible.You only shed the virus, though, during an outbreak or just before. The rest of the time you are not infectious.
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When I was certified in communicable disease I actually remember the numbers being 80% by the time they are 30.
Also keep in mind if you contract HSV-1 your body begins to create antibodies that will help reduce the chance of contacted HSV-2, and vise versa. Also reduces the risk of spreading the virus from oral to genitals, whether HSV-1 or HSV-2.
Quote:
From here, however, the question of transmissibility gets more complicated. Acquisition of one type is more difficult-though certainly possible-if you already have the other type. This is because either type, contracted orally or genitally, causes the body to produce antibodies, some of which are active against both HSV-1 and 2. This acquired immune response gives some limited protection if the body encounters a second type. When a person with a prior HSV infection does contract the second type, the first episode tends to be less severe than when no prior antibodies are present.
On a practical level, this means oral HSV-1 is often the most easily acquired herpes infection. Usually the first herpes simplex virus that people encounter, oral HSV-1, is typically spread simply by the kind of social kiss that a relative gives a child. Because children have no prior infection with any HSV type, they have no immune defense against the virus.
By the time they're teenagers or young adults, about 50% of Americans have HSV-1 antibodies in their blood. By the time they are over age 50, some 80-90% of Americans have HSV-1 antibodies.
By comparison, almost all HSV-2 is encountered after childhood, when people become sexually active. Those who have a prior infection with HSV-1 have an acquired immune response that lowers - though certainly doesn't eliminate-the risk of acquiring HSV-2. According to one study (Mertz, Annals of Internal Medicine,1992), previous oral HSV-1 infection reduces the acquisition of subsequent HSV-2 infection by 40%.
A prior infection with oral HSV-1 lowers the risk of acquiring genital HSV-1 even further. Studies show that genital HSV-1 infections almost always occur in people who have no prior infection with HSV of either type (Corey, Annals of Internal Medicine, 1983).
Article found here: http://www.herpes.com/hsv1-2.html
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i remember freaaaking the fuck out when u told me I had herpes.. I WAS LIKE "I DONT HAVE HERPES"!!!!!!sorry for being such a bitch
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LOL.. I do remember that,It's OK.. I didn't take it personally. I attributed it to denial.. It's not something you want to hear.
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I was going to post a question similar to this. I found info. on WebMD Okay, so if you have Type-1 can you give someone genital herpes...or do you have to have Type-2 only? I've had cold sores before. If one can produce the other, are the only way they are different is through where they appear on the person's body?
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They are different in the type of strain they are but Oral (Type 1) can be tranferred to the genetalia.. They are still type 1 though.
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I think I understand now....