Question:
I have a question;

If oral herpes is so prevalent - (isn't it supposed to be that as many as 90 per cent of people have it? well whatever the statistic is I know it's huge)then why do more people not have genital herpes - given that oral sex is (I think) just as common as penetrative sex?

Also I've just watched a programme on TV (it was the one with Davina McColl if anyone's reading this from the UK) and she said that the most prevalent SD is chlamydia, with 1 out of 10 young adults having it.

Well surely herpes is more prevalent than this?

Any thoughts?

Answer:
for one thing, i don't tend to trust statistics. they can be manipulated sooo easily.

i can't really explain the information given by that tv programme. :-? i'm reasonably certain that, though statistics can't be trusted, at the very least statistics do show that more people have hsv than chlamydia. and i mean they used a statisic, so they should maybe have looked into it more?

the thing about the estimates of how many people have oral hsv is that lots of people don't show symptoms, and lots of those that do don't know that their symptoms are hsv, so those people haven't been diagnosed... and so how can they be counted? nothing has been documented showing that they have it. it seems to me a silly thing to try to estimate how many people have something if they don't know it, let alone their doctors or people who have access to information on such things or people trying to make these estimates. it's like trying to estimate how many people ate granny smith apples sometime in the last two months. sure, you could try to measure it by how many people bought zovirax or other anti-viral medications... but then do they have hsv1 or hsv2, oral or genital, and have they bought 5 boxes of it or one? are people buying it who don't actually need it, they just think their chapped lips are a cold sore?

about the oral sex thing: i read somewhere (i should have taken notes so i could cite it! i guess i was reading just to make myself feel better...) that a study was done on shedding of hsv. it found that people who have genital hsv1 and oral hsv2 shed less than people who have genital hsv2 and oral hsv1- the virus isn't in it's location of preference, and therefore isn't as "happy." it isn't able to replicate itself AS MUCH because the conditions aren't ideal. but it still does.

the other finding was that the less people have outbreaks, the less they shed, even when no symptoms are present. so if someone hasn't had an outbreak for something like five years, the virus is showing some sort of weakness. if it can't make billions of copies of itself in the skin (which is what an outbreak shows) it is less likely to be able to make copies of itself in the skin at all- which is shedding without symptoms. note: less likely. this is biology- there are always exceptions...

so people who contracted it when they were very young and saw their outbreaks lessen to the point that they forgot about it... probably don't shed as much. people who don't know they have it at all probably don't shed as much. by not having outbreaks, their bodies are indicating an ability to limit the virus, and thus limit shedding. so i can see how it wouldn't spread through oral sex as much if they don't shed as much as people who have outbreaks often. also keep in mind that hsv1 is not as "happy" to spread to the genitals as hsv2 is, and hsv1 is more common to have orally than hsv2.

that said, i've been wondering the same thing. i have this sort of sinking feeling that i'm just unlucky. :/ because i know i already have a weak immune system from past medical problems... and also an anxiety disorder, which results in me stressing out constantly. so since i contracted hsv in october i've had outbreaks ... all the time. still i wonder just how calm you have to be and just how strong your immune system has to be to not realize that you even have hsv.

i think the reason they're sometimes called "fever blisters" is lots of people that have hsv only get them when they've had a fever or been really ill. i have a friend from bulgaria who says the bulgarian word for it translates as something to do with nightmares. so stress! it makes sense.

anyone else have any ideas?

mine aren't all that conclusive.

Answer:
Hi wonderwall, thanks for the reply and you raise some interesting points.

About the stress thing. It makes sense for the virus to be triggered when soemone's stressed because the immune system will be compromised. But I have been SO stressed recently and not a sign of the virus in sight! Before this I'd had SEVEN outbreaks in TWO MONTHS.

I don't know, there just doesn't seem to be much of a pattern to any of it.

Answer:
Don't go trying this at home folks but I know for certain that stress or emotional outbursts can lead to a severe ob.

I went a year without an ob and one day someone really upset me. I admit I had the tantrum of all tantrums at home alone in my room. Yep I screamed and cried and honestly thought getting it out would help. NO WAY the next day it was the worst ob I could even imagine. Then it lasted on and off for two months. Of course this is how I finally got a positive test result and diagnosis. Prior to that I'd only had one little, tiny, almost painless ob.

It makes you wonder if it can bring on a hellish ob what is it doing to your heart, your immune system your sanity? Nope not worth it.

I made up my mind that I can never let myself get that upset again because no one, no thing is worth an ob or frankly the heart attack that could follow the next one.