U.S. herpes rates remain high - CDC
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 9:58 PM
About 16 percent of Americans between the ages of 14 and 49 are infected with genital herpes, making it one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday.
Black women had the highest rate of infection at 48 percent, 39 percent of blacks were infected compared to about 12 percent for whites, according to an analysis by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC estimates that more than 80 percent of people with genital herpes do not know they are infected.
There is no cure for genital herpes, which can cause recurrent and painful genital sores and also increases the likelihood of acquiring and transmitting the AIDS virus.
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