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Herpes More Common in NYC Than Rest of Country
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 10, 2008
Modified Jun 10, 2008
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 10, 2008
Modified Jun 10, 2008
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Time to break out the subway condoms! The Health Department reported yesterday that "more than a fourth of adult New Yorkers are infected with Herpes Simplex Virus-2, the virus that causes genital herpes." For contrast, the national average for genital herpes infection is 19%.
The virus has no cure, lasts forever, and those infected are more susceptible to the HIV virus. The Health Department also finds "among New Yorkers, the rate is higher among women than men (36% versus 19%), higher among blacks than whites (49% versus 14%), and higher among men who have sex with men than those who don’t (32% versus 18%)."
Dr. Julia Schillinger, lead author of the study, noted that "Genital herpes alone will not cause serious problems for most people. But some people will have painful genital sores." And since many don't show symptoms, it's advised that you check out the information provided by the Department of Health, before becoming a statistic.
On top of the Herpes scare, the Health Department says they received more than 65,000 reports of sexually transmitted infections in 2007 (including gonorrhea, chlamydia, and infectious syphilis) -- which is above the national average. Surely the Gowanus Canal harboring gonorrhea has not helped these figures go down. So before you "get some, NYC" -- get some condoms first.
Related: The Herpes Simplex Virus-2 plush doll (pictured) is on backorder.
Tagged
department of health
doh
health
herpes
statistics
std
study
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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