Herpes Confusion?

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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?

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?

Holy crap. At least I'm not alone. I hate cold sores:(

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.

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

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

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.

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?

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.

I think I understand now....