In recent months, studies and reports state that there has been a growth in positive results of herpes in America. In 2018 alone, there were 26 million new STIs in the country that saw a massive increase in percentage over the recent years. STIs have been quite prevalent in the country as there are around 572,000 incidences of Herpes simplex virus, also known as HSV-1 and HSV-2, that are being recorded each passing year. Herpes is significantly more prevalent amongst women in the country since the percentage is higher (11.9%). But this doesn’t mean that men cannot get infected too. Since herpes is a dangerous viral infection that affects the genitalia, the CDC strongly recommends all adults get tested at least once in their lives. You can read more about herpes testing online.
As we all know, herpes is a very dangerous sexually transmitted disease; it puts people at risk, especially young adults. These STDs can even go undetected for months or years. That’s why testing and screening are an essential part of maintaining one’s personal and sexual health. In the United States, there’s an estimate that this disease infects one person in every group of five adults. These numbers play a big factor in the increase in mortality percentages and deterioration of health in general. Globally speaking, there’s estimated to be more than three billion people infected with HSV-1. Additionally, nearly half a billion people are living with HSV-2. These numbers can be higher as a majority of the population does not go through screening for these types of diseases.
Research carried out by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey stated that 11.2% of people aged between 20 to 29 years had been infected with herpes. And 19.6% of people aged between 30 to 39 were also infected. In both these categories, the disease was thrice as more prevalent in females. Since a large number of the population go undiagnosed yearly, the possibility of putting more people at risk is at an all-time high. The main cause of prevalence of herpes in the young adult age groups is that they tend to be more sexually active than their other generational counterparts. Even the percentage of positive results in teenagers saw a steady increase over the last two years.
Herpes is categorized into two types; herpes simplex virus type 1 and herpes simplex virus type 2. The former has been known to infect people without sexual contact, and the latter is infected through sexual activity. However, subjects infected with HSV-1 could also experience the infection in their genitalia.
Through clinical and diagnostic testing procedures, STD clinics can detect herpes disease. It typically uses a blood test, swab test, or a spinal tap. The type of testing that patients undergo can depend on their type of symptoms. This sexually transmitted disease has caused an epidemic that has been hard to contain since there’s no particular vaccine or cure to date. To make things worse, the general population who have been screened for herpes has shown more positive results over the last few years. This has become a concerning issue that needs to be tackled by the government and community as a whole.
The prevalence of herpes has seen a 32% increase over the last five years. This means that the disease has become more widespread among young adults in the country. Serostatus data collection also showed that more than 16% of males and 21% of females showed positive results. Studies show that most infected patients contracted the disease in their early 20s, thus creating a broader breeding ground for this disease.
Most of the outbreaks are caused by herpes simplex virus type 2 since this is more infectious. However, it doesn’t mean that people are safe from HSV-1, as it is also quite infectious. The only difference between these two types of viruses is that HSV-1 may take some time to develop significant symptoms in the subject. With the recent pandemic wave that has swept the world, the severity of herpes may have been overlooked. This results in lower awareness and causes more outbreaks to happen. This is why STD clinics across the United States have reported a 32% increase over the last few years.
Between August and December of 2020, STD cases saw a massive surge, with a 120% increase as compared to 82% in 2019. Since the primary focus shifted to finding a cure for the coronavirus, people slightly reduced general priority and awareness for STDs. The CDC listed a couple of methods for easier STD testing for patients during the pandemic. It included clinics that provided testing for STDs without an extensive clinical screening and partner labs/pharmacies that focused on giving clients a more accessible point for testing.
Through a large collection of health data and extensive research, it has been disclosed that the main percentage of herpes infections are left undiagnosed. A survey conducted by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey revealed that only 9.8% of the patients with herpes knew they had the disease. Subsequently, less than half of those subjects had knowledge of them being infected with genital herpes. Evaluations showed that only a 1/4 of the patients displayed no signs of symptoms whatsoever.
With a large number of STD testing locations spread out all across the nation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highly recommends anybody with signs of symptoms get tested immediately. Through screening for STDs will help in treatment for any positive results. It will also cut down the risk of people infecting others living around them. With the focus shifted more towards the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a steady decrease in general awareness for all types of STDs. This results in more people engaging in sexual activities without proper knowledge or protection. Due to lockdowns and other types of preventive mandates for the Covid-19 virus, more people have been spending time together inside their homes. This single factor may be responsible for lots of sexually transmitted diseases being spread out unknowingly.
