Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International; Wednesday, October 15, 1997 - 1:45 PM EDT
Ed Susman
Reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta say (Wednesday) the increase in sexually-transmitted herpes occurred despite messages urging safe sex to prevent AIDS. The CDC researchers say the increase indicates young, white Americans _ those showing the greatest increase in herpes infection _ weren't paying attention.
Herpes is a life-long, incurable infection which can cause painful blisters or sores, but is most dangerous to newborns. About 90 percent of those infected are unaware they have the virus.
Dr. Douglas Fleming, assistant professor of clinical medicine at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Bruswick, N.J., the lead investigator who scrutinized new national health survey data, says about 45 million Americans have herpes infections _ spread by touching, kissing or during any form of sexual activity.
Researchers compared data from two national survey, one done in the late, pre-AIDS 1970s and the other completed in the mid-1990s.
Fleming says herpes infection increases the risk of contracting the deadly AIDS virus.
He notes that because herpes and AIDS are transmitted by sex, it's apparent that safe sex advertisements during the past decade haven't impacted target groups.
Fleming says, "We need to be much more aggressive in promoting healthy sexual behavior."
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