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Herpes amongst Teens in the US
Herpes are one of the most common of all the sexually transmitted diseases and it is particularly prevalent amongst teenagers. There are a lot of reasons for this but most of them come down to a lack of information. Most teens simply aren't aware of the risks of getting herpes and they engage in risky behavior. There does however seem to be some good news as evidence suggests that the rate of herpes infection is declining. The bad news is that other sexually transmitted diseases are becoming more common.
Herpes are fairly common amongst teens in the US. Getting accurate numbers is a little bit tricky since many people with herpes are unaware that they have it. It is however estimated that about one in six people has herpes. It is also estimated that the rate is probably higher amongst teens than it is for the general population. The good news however is that the rate of herpes infection does seem to be declining however there is still a long way to go. There are a few reasons that herpes is so common in teens, besides the obvious that they are having more sex.
The biggest reason that herpes are very common amongst teens is that many teen who have herpes don't realize it. This is because the most cases the symptoms of herpes are fairly minor. In most cases it will be nothing more than some sores around the genitals. The result is that many people, especially teenagers don't realize that they have contracted a sexually transmitted disease. Especially since the sores will go away after a couple of weeks the natural tendency is to believe that there is no problem.
Even when teens do realize that they have herpes they often don't get it treated. Very few teens are going to tell their parents that they think they have a sexually transmitted disease, especially if there are no serious symptoms as is usually the case with herpes. The result is that most teens will just deal with it on their own. This is a mistake, although there is no herpes cure there are ways that you can reduce the seriousness of the outbreaks. More importantly there are treatments that can reduce the likelihood that you will spread the disease to somebody else.
Another reason that herpes is so common amongst teens in the US is that a shocking number of them fail to practice safe sex. In part this is due to poor sex education in which they are not properly taught about the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases. In part it is the result of the tendency that most young people have to think they are indestructible. They don't think that it will happen to them, getting herpes is something that happens to other people. Unfortunately this attitude leads to risky behavior with the result being a very high rate of herpes amongst teens in the US.