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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Herpes / April 2005Are there certain areas with higher herpes rates?
Hello, My friend told me that the Los Angeles area has one of the highest rates of genital herpes going by some statistic. I am not sure this is possible. Is it possible that there are certain geographical areas that have more concentrations of people with herpes than others? I live in RI and I don't know what the rate is here. Other than that I am at the end of what was a minor outbreak that started last Friday. I am still a little achy and tired, but the blisters are gone so I know I am at the end. I am dating someone that also has genital herpes and I am glad that we can be together and not have to worry about either person getting it. Tom >Is >it possible that there are certain geographical areas that have more >concentrations of people with herpes than others? Yes. Rates differ by region, by age, by race and by culture. And probably by any other subset you can think of. The 1 in 5 rate you hear quoted most of the time is just an overall bottom line rate for the entire sample population (meanng, US) of the study. Furthermore, rates will vary over time within all subsets. That's the way statistics work. Without having access to the raw data from the study, I don't know where you can find out the stats for only Los Angeles or only Rhode Island (or "only" any other subset of the population) M2 Originally I heard that herpes was primarily a Caucasian disease, but I think that has changed alot. Now there are more people 12-19 yrs old that are getting it from oral sex than before. I guess you'd probably have to go to a library to get that information if they even have it. Maybe Los Angeles is considered higher because of the high sun levels and also smog and traffic (higher stress), all things that weaken the immune system. Rhode Island has severe winters, which is another bad thing for the body. > >Is > >it possible that there are certain geographical areas that have more [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > M2 >Originally I heard that herpes was primarily a Caucasian disease, Can't imagine who came up with that one. It's never been primarily any one race. Although, if broken down, there are differences in rates between races. IIRC, Caucasian isn't the highest though. >Now there are more people 12-19 yrs old that >are getting it from oral sex than before. I'd believe that to be true probably. >I guess you'd probably have to go >to a library to get that information if they even have it. If you happen to be an actuary, statistician, or have an extensive background/education in statistics, you can pull up reams of data from various NHANES surveys and do your own analysis. Sorting through all that to find what you want can be daunting though. Especially for the inexperienced. And sometimes I think it's only the statisticians that truly understand the meaning of anylitical results. Everybody else seems to use the bottom line numbers to come up with their own ideas as to the meaning of it all. In other words, two people can take that 1 in 5 stat and come up with assumptions and conclusions about it's meaning that are totally opposite... and sometime they're BOTH wrong. M2 <----- knows just enough about statistics to know how easily stats can be misinterpreted (the devil's in the details) > >Originally I heard that herpes was primarily a Caucasian disease, > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > M2 <----- knows just enough about statistics to know how easily stats > can be misinterpreted (the devil's in the details) I know this is not what you had in mind, but does everyone agree that at least 20% of this country's population has genital herpes? Do we also agree that 50-80% of the country has oral herpes? Would anybody argue with this? >I know this is not what you had in mind, but does everyone agree that >at least 20% of this country's population has genital herpes? Do we >also agree that 50-80% of the country has oral herpes? Would anybody >argue with this? I won't argue with those figures, but I think I'd argue with the conclusion you're trying to attach to the figures. If only one person in the country *didn't* have herpes, I'd want to respect that person's right not to acquire it. On the other hand, I do think that there are sufficient numbers of people with the disease that we should be getting over any sort of social stigma attached to the thing, and by and large, in my experience of the last few years, I see the stigma fading. Sure, there are people who don't want to expose themselves to the virus by having sex with carriers, but I think the days when people were made fun of and ostracized for having it are near over. There is still a way to go in those regards, but progress is being made. Take care, Mike xyzer writes: >does everyone agree that >at least 20% of this country's population has genital herpes? If you were to restate that to say, for this country's population *over age 12*, then yes. That's what NHANES concluded. >also agree that 50-80% of the country has oral herpes? Would anybody >argue with this? I wouldn't argue with it but I could probably nitpick it if I put my mind to it (i.e.above certain age groups etc). Bottom line though, I doubt anybody would argue that most *adults* in the US are infected and most of those infected are unaware of it. 50% to 80% sounds like a reasonable statement. I've seen a study as high as 90% Original poster asked about subsets though, not total population. Any given subset may not match overall percentage. Might be higher, might be lower, and that was my point. M2 > xyzer writes: >> does everyone agree that >> at least 20% of this country's population has genital herpes? > > If you were to restate that to say, for this country's population > *over age 12*, then yes. That's what NHANES concluded. If I may be picky on your adjustment - Actually he'd be right, that NHANES III concluded that 20.8% was the count including adjusting for age. Without the age adjustment it was 21.9% Tim -- When playing rugby, its not the winning that counts, but the taking apart ICQ: 5178568 >If I may be picky on your adjustment - You certainly may, kind sir ... and congrats on your new royalty. Among other fine qualities, she obviously has positively smashing druthers in hats ;-) >Actually he'd be right, that NHANES III concluded that 20.8% was the >count including adjusting for age. Without the age adjustment it was >21.9% Thanks for that. You wouldn't happen to have the rates for only Los Angeles and/or only Rhode Island would you? Or better yet, a credible website that breaks the study down into different (odds & ends) interesting sub-populations? I've picked up bits and pieces of data and results in various articles and sites but one page devoted to this one study broken down in many different ways would be an interesting find. M2 I guess the whole idea of knowing stats is kind of silly when you think about it. One reason I thought of this was because once I was looking for other available females with herpes for dating and did a search on match.com. There is supposed to be some code you type in to find people with herpes and its something like 43373? or something like that. Well anyway, I found about 10 people in the whole US that actually listed that have it. I guess there is still some stigma, but I don't have to worry about that. I recently met a wonderful woman and now we are in a relationship. We both have genital herpes HSV1 and there's no worries for either person. Now I just have to get my outbreaks to calm down a little more and I'll be okay, but that's getting better also. Tom > Thanks for that. You wouldn't happen to have the rates for only Los > Angeles and/or only Rhode Island would you? Or better yet, a credible [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > M2 |
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