Billions of people worldwide are found to be carrying herpes simplex virus (HSV), according to the latest study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The study, published on Oct. 28 in the journal PLOS ONE, found that an estimated 3.7 billion people below 50 years old suffer from infectious diseases caused by the virus.
The virus comes in two types — HSV 1 and HSV 2 — and both are incurable and highly infectious, according to WHO.
HSV-1 usually causes mouth ulcers or cold sores while HSV-2 is mostly transmitted through sexual contact and causes genital herpes.
The latest findings also emphasized that HSV-1 can also cause genital herpes, as seen among 140 million individuals from the 15-49 years old age group who have genital herpes from HSV-1 infection.
Children from high-income regions are now unlikely to develop HSV-1 infections due to improved hygiene practices, but they still have high chances of developing genital infections when they engage in oral sex once they reach their sexually active phase.
For this reason, Dr. Marleen Temmerman, director of the organization's Department of Reproductive Health and Research, believes that young people should be made aware of the facts about HSV-1 and HSV-2 to protect their sexual health.
Sami Gottlieb, a medical officer for WHO, highlighted the "need to accelerate the development of vaccines against herpes simplex virus, and if a vaccine designed to prevent HSV-2 infection also prevented HSV-1, it would have far-reaching benefits," Reuters reported.
Herpes is a kind of infection that can be carried on for life. The HSV-1 is usually transmitted oral-oral, while HSV-2 spreads via skin-skin contact.
When the viruses get transmitted, most people go on without showing any symptoms, but once they do, it can have a significant social and mental impact on the infected individual.
Since there's no permanent cure for the viral infection, WHO is working with partners to develop vaccines that can prevent the infections.
Currently, there are many potential treatments for HSV infections being studied, according to the organization.
