Herpes slowly retreating, but the infection remains common

sexual contact with saliva. It can be spread to the genitals through oral sex. GeniThe prevalence of both gental herpes is spread by vagiital and oral herpes simplex nal, anal or oral sex with an virus infections has declined infected person. steadily since 2000. Still, Even when there are no roughly half of middle-aged symptoms, the herpes virus Americans are infected. continues to live in the body

HSV-1, or oral herpes, causes and can be reactivated to cause cold sores around the mouth outbreaks. There is no cure and face, and sometimes genfor herpes, but antiviral med- ital sores. HSV-2, genital her- icines can help to reduce the pes, is sexually transmitted severity and duration of outand causes sores around the breaks of both oral and gengenitals, buttocks and anus. ital herpes.

HSV-2 can sometimes cause According to a report pubmouth sores as well. lished recently by the National

Both types of herpes are Center for Health Statistics, 48 transmitted by direct con- percent of Americans ages 14 tact with an infected person; to 49 are infected with HSV-1, some infected people have no down from 59 percent in 2000. symptoms. About half of women in this

Oral herpes is usually age group are infected; 45 acquired early in childhood percent of men are infected. or adolescence from non- The older a person is, the more likely he or she is to be infected.

Almost 60 percent of people ages 40 to 49 are infected with HSV-1. Rates are higher among Mexican-Americans, blacks and Asian-Americans than among non-Hispanic whites.

HSV-2, the sexually transmitted form, infects 12 percent of Americans aged 14 to 49, down from 18 percent in 2000. The prevalence is 16 percent in women and 8 percent in men.

According to the lead author, Geraldine McQuillan, senior infectious disease epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been no studies firmly establishing why women are infected with HSV-2 at almost twice the rate of men.