Is it true does 1 in 5 people have herpes? - Herpes Message Board

mightbaal · 03-17-2005, 08:41 AM

Is this true someone told me this....

CALI_GURL413 · 03-17-2005, 11:36 AM

Well 50% - 80% of adults have herpes type 1. Im not sure the percentages of type 2.

unlucky_guy · 03-17-2005, 03:59 PM

It's actually not 1 in 5. For one reason or another, the rates of genital herpes have been dropping in recent years...so basically, the younger you are, the lower the chances of herpes. For instance, if you are in the 20-29 year range, it is less than 1 in 10.

Prevalence of Genital Herpes (Type 2) as of the most recent CDC Study:

14-19 year olds: 1.5%
20-29 year olds: 8%
Men (Ages 14-49): 11.2%
Overall (Ages 14-49): 17%

beaker24 · 03-17-2005, 05:20 PM

Probably the incidence of oral and genital herpes means that something more than 1 in 5 people have herpes, but unluckyguy is right, it's fewer than 1 in 5 having HSV2 these days. Actually in the UK it's always been around 8-12%, for some reason significantly lower than the US.