Why does Herpes still cause social stigma?

by Brian White (Subscribe to Brian White's posts)
Aug 27th 2007 6:53PM

Genital herpes is very common in the U.S., but for some reason, it's analogous to the childhood "cooties" for many young and older adults still. Why is this?

In a recent poll, adults ranked genital herpes as the second-largest sexually transmitted disease in terms of the stigma is carries. HIV was first. Herpes beat out gonorrhea, mental illness, obesity and even cancer. Herpes?

It's odd that a viral infection that causes little more than cold sores and possible warts carries this much social stigma, but it does according to this poll. If this infection is considered this "taboo," it seems out of place in slot number two if you ask me.

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Comments (3)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

AK 8-27-2007 @ 7:49PM

Do a search for neonatal herpes and you might understand why people, especially women, don't want to get a disease that just causes "cold sores and possible warts." Herpes can cause mental retardation, blindness, and even death if not managed during pregnancy and delivery.

I hate those idiotic DTP commercials for Valtrex, but they do get one thing right: unlike gonorrhea (and even now there are drug-resistant strains), there is no cure for herpes.

Carbesan 8-28-2007 @ 1:23PM

Herpes doesn't cause warts, the writer is confusing this with HPV (Human Papillomavirus), some types of which can lead to genital warts.

About 1 in 5 U.S. adults have genital herpes, although the majority of them have no/mild symptoms and are unaware of th virus. Herpes does carry an emotional wallop far in excess of its medical burden, but the stigma does remain huge in many cases.

Get more info and support at www.ashastd.org, the Website of the American Social Health Association.