Turns out herpes is a lot more common than you might think.
The World Health Organization estimates that about two-thirds of the world’s population suffers from Herpes Simplex 1, the virus that causes cold sores. That comes down to about 3.7 billion people worldwide.
Occasionally, oral sex with someone who has HSV-1 can cause genital sores as well.
Once you catch the virus, it sticks with you for life. Many people get oral herpes as children, though improving hygiene standards have decreased the number of children getting infected and have upped the number of people catching it from oral sex. The WHO says that those who catch it orally are unlikely to develop genital sores as well.
HSV-1 is different from Herpes Simplex 2, which mainly causes genital sores. An estimated 417 million people from 17-49 years of age worldwide suffer from HSV-2.
“The new estimates highlight the crucial need for countries to improve data collection for both HSV types and sexually transmitted infections in general,” WHO’s Department of Reproductive Health and Research Director Dr. Maureen Temmerman told NBC.
Different companies are working with the US National Institutes of health to create a vaccine or other preventative measure.
“That was interesting and promising and gave a proof of concept that these vaccines can be developed. There’s a lot of work ongoing and we’re hopeful that we’ll have an HSV vaccine in the future,” WHO medical officer Sami Gottlieb told The Guardian.
This data reminds us that herpes really isn’t that big a deal—more than half the world’s population has it, after all! Of course, you should always practice safe sex and take precautions to prevent herpes and other STIs, but if you do catch it, you’re definitely not alone. The stigma is much, much worse than the virus itself.