Labial herpes is more common than you think
(Mirror Daily, United States) The World Health Organization has issued a statement saying that, according to its latest studies, a staggering two thirds of the world’s population has herpes.
The herpes viruses, called the HSV-1 and HSV-2 viruses are the ones that cause sores. Both cold sores, around your mouth and genital herpes, considered to be a sexual transmitted disease. The World Health Organization says that the number one way of transmitting the disease is via oral sex.
The bad thing about herpes is the fact that it is not curable. Most individuals get herpes as infants. It is very easily spread, just skin-to-skin contact being necessary. Apart from that, the diseased individual does not need to have sores, therefore for the herpes to manifest itself, in order to spread it.
The second type of herpes is the genital one, caused by unprotected sexual intercourse. But it can also be transmitted via kissing.
This new study shows how 3.7 billion people all over the world suffer from this disease. In America, almost half of women, meaning 178 million have oral herpes, the first type and so do 39 per cent or 142 million men. The study also shows that herpes affects mostly people in rich countries. The reason behind this is that people in rich countries have better hygiene and are, therefore, protected as children from catching the virus. However, even though they are protected as children against it, research shows they will catch it via oral sex when they become sexually active, later on in life.
Unfortunately, this type of the virus, the second or sexually transmitted one increases the risk of getting infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Also, it can lead to other more serious complications, such as encephalitis.
One medical officer from the World Health Organization, Sam Gottlieb, really raised a serious point when he stated that we do need to try and find a cure or a vaccine against herpes. The GlaxoSmithKline company is said to have tried to develop such a vaccine, but gave it up after it discovered it had no effect on genital herpes. However, it did have some effect on the oral type, which means hope exists.
There is one study out there that says humans first got herpes from chimpanzees. HSV-1, the oral virus type is said to have affected hominids before they separated on the evolution scale from chimpanzees some 6 million years ago. The second type, HSV-2, the genital one is said to have been transferred directly from chimpanzees to Homo Erectus about 1.6 million years ago.
Image Source: www.wikimedia.org