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How common is hsv, really?


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Everyone says how common this is, I can say I don't personally know of anyone with it (probably because it's not something people just regularly tell others). I really wish I knew just one person who has it. It came to my realization after thinking about this (because that's all I tend to do lately--think about this)... and I have been a nurse for 5 years now and I recall seeing hsv in a patients medical history maybe one time... is this not normally listed in a patients chart? I feel like an outcast even tho everyone says it's so common and it's all around me.

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I wondered the same. In all my life, I've only semi-known one person with it. To be honest, I really didn't know them; I just heard that she had it through the grapevine. I too constantly think about it & feel like an outcast, but then I realize that it doesn't make me feel any better. Afterwards, I give myself a pep talk & try to move on. FYI: it's probably not in most charts bc ppl are embarrassed to list it.

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@H1234 @stillstanding The 1 in 6 number comes from a large study of 14-49 year olds. Blood samples were taken for HSV2 (HSV1/GHSV1 is not factored into the 1 in 6). 29% of the study participants had not yet had sex, so among the sexually active in the study, the infection rate was closer to 1 in 4. Almost twice as many women are infected as men, so among the 14-49 year old sexually active girls/women, more than 1 in 4 are infected. Among sexually active boys/men, less than 1 in 4. The rate increases with age, so less than 1 in 4 are infected at age 14 but more than 1 in 4 are infected by age 49. The 1 in 4 is an average of everyone in the 14-49 year old range, not a lifetime risk which would be much higher. More than half of single/divorced/widowed women have HSV2 by age 45-49. The percentage is smaller among men.

 

Most adults have HSV1, usually orally. This can also be transmitted to a partner's genitals, causing genital herpes.

 

HSV is extremely common.

 

Edit to add: There are a few reasons you feel like you're alone in this. First, most people who are infected don't know they are infected. It is estimated that 80-90% of people with genital herpes are unaware they have it. Only 12.5% of those who are positive have been diagnosed. Also, while people tend to speak freely about oral herpes (cold sores), there is a stigma associated with genital herpes, likely because it is transmitted sexually, and possibly also because people don't visually see it all the time in regular life like they see cold sores so they imagine it to be much worse than it really is. Seeing cold sores out and about kind of normalizes oral herpes, and people can see that those who have cold sores have them intermittently and that they are a temporary nuisance.

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  • 2 weeks later...

@optimist excellent facts! Another thing is that most people that have cold sores don't even know it's Herpes. That's probably more of the reason why oral Herpes doesn't have the stigma that genital Herpes does.

 

That fact of the matter is, HSV is not a big deal.

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  • 2 weeks later...
@H1234 @stillstanding The 1 in 6 number comes from a large study of 14-49 year olds. Blood samples were taken for HSV2 (HSV1/GHSV1 is not factored into the 1 in 6). 29% of the study participants had not yet had sex, so among the sexually active in the study, the infection rate was closer to 1 in 4. Almost twice as many women are infected as men, so among the 14-49 year old sexually active girls/women, more than 1 in 4 are infected. Among sexually active boys/men, less than 1 in 4. The rate increases with age, so less than 1 in 4 are infected at age 14 but more than 1 in 4 are infected by age 49. The 1 in 4 is an average of everyone in the 14-49 year old range, not a lifetime risk which would be much higher. More than half of single/divorced/widowed women have HSV2 by age 45-49. The percentage is smaller among men.

 

Most adults have HSV1, usually orally. This can also be transmitted to a partner's genitals, causing genital herpes.

 

HSV is extremely common.

 

Edit to add: There are a few reasons you feel like you're alone in this. First, most people who are infected don't know they are infected. It is estimated that 80-90% of people with genital herpes are unaware they have it. Only 12.5% of those who are positive have been diagnosed. Also, while people tend to speak freely about oral herpes (cold sores), there is a stigma associated with genital herpes, likely because it is transmitted sexually, and possibly also because people don't visually see it all the time in regular life like they see cold sores so they imagine it to be much worse than it really is. Seeing cold sores out and about kind of normalizes oral herpes, and people can see that those who have cold sores have them intermittently and that they are a temporary nuisance.

 

Great info as always!!!

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If the medical community says that they estimate that 1 in every 6 people aged between 14 and 49 have it, you can be sure that the real number is much greater than that. This infection is not even part of the standard STD testing so there are millions of people out there who don't know they have Herpes and this is the 80 - 90% that they are referring to...

This is actually an epidemic but both the government, the medical community, and the people at large don't want to deal with it!

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