More than 3.7 billion people under 50 have the highly-infectious and incurable herpes virus that causes sores around the mouth and sometimes on the genitals, a World Health Organisation report said. There are two forms of the herpes virus and both are most often transmitted without symptoms, but for those stuck with the lifelong infection, painful and embarrassing sores can be recurring.
Two thirds of the global population under the age of 50 are infected with the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), which tends to cause cold sores, the WHO said in a report last week.
A full 87 percent of Africans under 50 have the virus which is transmitted by mouth-to-mouth contact or through saliva, as do three quarters of those in the eastern Mediterranean and western Pacific regions.
In comparison, "only" 39 percent of men and 49 percent of women in the Americas, and 61 percent of men and 69 percent of women in Europe have the virus, the WHO said in a statement. HSV-1 mainly causes cold soars and blisters around the mouth, as opposed to HSV-2, which is almost entirely sexually transmitted and causes genital herpes.
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