Two-thirds of the world population has herpes, WHO claims
That's more than 3.7 billion people under the age of 50
The world is facing public health crises of disastrous proportions if recent reports are to be believed. The World Health Organization (WHO) has claimed that a staggering two-thirds of the world’s population has herpes.
This means that more than 3.7 billion people under the age of 50 or in other words 67 percent of the population are now carriers of this dreaded STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease). Herpes is of two types: HSV-1 which is primarily transmitted through oral-oral contact and causes cold sores around the mouth, on the other hand, the HSV-2 is transmitted sexually and leads to genital herpes, reports the Time.
The new WHO study shows that HSV-1 can also cause genital herpes via oral sex. This is why over half-a-billion people aged between 15 and 49 are afflicted by genital herpes caused by either strain of the herpes virus.