Most people with herpes don't know they have it, which is probably how almost two-thirds of the global population ended up with the virus. On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that, "More than 3.7 billion people under the age of 50, or 67 percent of the population, are infected with herpes simplex virus type 1."
There are two types of herpes virus—HSV-1, which is primarily transmitted by mouth-to-mouth (or lipstick-to-mouth) contact, causes oral herpes, and HSV-2, which is transmitted sexually, causes genital herpes. Or at least that's what scientists thought, until the results of a new study by WHO revealed that people with HSV-1 can transmit genital herpes through oral sex. Both types of herpes are incurable and last forever.
In America, where the prevalence of herpes is lowest, it's estimated that 49 percent of women and 39 percent of men have herpes. In Africa, where estimates are highest, herpes presumably appears in 87 percent of men and women. WHO says it's working on a strategy to combat the global spread of STIs like herpes, but for most of us it's probably too late.
