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So, it’s Friday night and you’re ready to get your party on. Sounds like a good way to spend the evening, except that STDs are on the rise in the black community, and you may not be adequately aware or prepared to protect yourself from disease. Center for Disease Control and Prevention statistics indicate that almost half of all African Americans have genital herpes (45.9 percent). Did you know that every 30 seconds, another person contracts this disease? Here are some facts about the virus that you should keep in mind to keep yourself healthy.
1. Emotional Factor – what you see is not what you get. Herpes symptoms often physically present themselves in one partner, while the other may not have any symptoms at all.
2. Lack of Detection – More than 75 percent of people with genital herpes don’t get proper treatment since they are unaware that they have the virus. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
3. The Dormant State – Did you know you can have herpes for years and show no symptoms? The disease may lay dormant for long periods of time, but when you are run down and your immune system is compromised, the virus may become active. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
4. Don’t be a Carrier – A “carrier” is someone who doesn’t exhibit any symptoms — not a cold sore or even a blister, yet is still completely capable of transmitting the disease to his or her partner (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). In this case ignorance plus carelessness is a recipe for a disease disaster.
5. Freak Factor – Anyone engaging in oral sex is still susceptible to genital herpes if either partner has any of the other herpes viruses including cold sores, mononucleosis, chicken pox or shingles. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
It’s in everyone’s best interest to be educated as well as smart about the disease. As devastating as the figures are about African Americans with herpes, experts guess that about half to 80 percent of adults have herpes (HerpesClinic.com).
Is the party over now? Maybe, or maybe it’s just time for everyone to be extra careful.
–forrest green III
