Nearly 25 years
after a newsmagazine declared that an epidemic of genital
herpes threatened to undo the sexual revolution, a new study
has found an encouraging decline in the
percentage of people infected with the herpes virus.
Back in 1982 a Time cover story headlined "The
New Scarlet Letter" sounded an alarm that seems almost
quaint now when compared to concern over another
sexually transmitted lifetime infection, the AIDS virus.
The new study shows a 19% drop since 1994 in the
percentage of Americans ages 14 to 49 who test
positive for herpes type 2, the most common cause of
the recurring painful sores of genital herpes. The declines
were especially pronounced among young people.
The findings, appearing in Wednesday's
Journal of the American Medical
Association, represent biological evidence of a
decrease in risky sexual behavior among adolescents, said
lead author Fujie Xu of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. "Overall, this is good news.
There is a decrease occurring among all youth, males
and females, and in all racial groups," Xu said. "That's
very encouraging."
But herpes is still uncomfortably common.
Despite the decline, blood tests of more than 11,000
people found 11% of men and 23% of women carry the
genital herpes, or type 2, virus. Among people in their 20s,
the infection rate was almost 11%.
Ironically, the rates have dropped back to about
where they were when Time ran its cover story, said
study coauthor Stuart Berman of the CDC. "If it was a
scarlet letter then, I don't know what you call it
now, and there's more HIV around," Berman said. Herpes
greatly increases the chances of infection with HIV, the
virus that causes AIDS.
"It's still an epidemic," said Tom Cherpes of
the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who
was not involved with the study. "The fact that
there's a trend downward should not be construed by
anybody [as meaning] that herpes is under control."
In addition, 56% of men and 60% of women tested
positive for the oral herpes virus, type 1, which is
best known as the culprit behind cold sores but can
spread to the genitals through oral sex. Type 1 may be
causing more genital infections in some groups, such as
college students, Xu and Berman said.
Herpes can be treated with antiviral drugs,
which can help prevent flare-ups and reduce the risk
of spreading it to others. Condoms can help lower the
risk of transmission, although they're not foolproof.
Infected people are contagious even if they show no symptoms.
The study was funded by the CDC. A previous CDC
report in 1997 found a 30% increase in herpes
infection since the late 1970s. "This new data really
reverses the trend," said study coauthor Francis Lee of
Emory University.
Kenneth Fife of the Indiana University School of
Medicine, who was not involved in the study, noted
that rates of infection are still disproportionately
high among women and blacks. The study found 42% of
blacks tested positive for herpes type 2, a decline of only
4% since 1994.
"Maybe we've finally gotten through to the young
people that they need to change their behavior," Fife
said. "We still see plenty of genital herpes. There
are adolescents who are becoming infected." (AP)
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