Researchers have found that as many as two-thirds of unmarried urban adults are infected with the oral herpes virus and one-third are infected with genital herpes.
University of California, San Francisco, researchers said Tuesday they conducted what they believe is the first scientific sampling of an inner-city population to determine the rate of herpes infection among people at high risk for sexually transmitted diseases.In their study of 1,770 individuals age 20 to 44 and representing a cross-section of the community, the scientists found 62 percent were infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), which causes oral herpes, and 33 percent were infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), which causes genital herpes. These are the two most common herpes viruses.
HSV-1 commonly causes oral herpes. Its symptoms include painful sores around the mouth and some-times the genital area.
HSV-2 is an incurable, sexually transmitted virus estimated to infect about 25 million Americans. Symptoms include genital itching or pain, small, painful genital blisters, and sometimes flulike symptoms such as fever, sore throat, head-ache and malaise.
Unlike most other viruses, the herpes viruses persist in the body and can recur later to cause active disease. Many people who are infected are unaware they carry the virus and exhibit no symptoms. Doctors are unsure whether the virus can be transmitted from a person without active disease.
"Our findings suggest that infection with both HSV-1 and HSV-2 is common in high-risk communities and that infection is at least in part related to modifiable behavior," Dr. David Siegel said in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study was conducted in sample neighborhoods of San Francisco between April 1988 and June 1989.
In addition to in-person interviews, respondents were asked to provide blood samples, which were tested for signs of herpes infection.