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Phoenix666 writes:

Two-thirds of the world's population under 50 have the highly infectious herpes virus that causes cold sores around the mouth, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, in its first estimate of global prevalence of the disease.

More than 3.7 billion people under the age of 50 suffer from the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), usually after catching it in childhood, according to a the WHO study.

That is in addition to 417 million people in the 17-49 age range who have the other form of the disease, HSV-2, which causes genital herpes.

According to TechInsider :

One of the biggest issues is that public-health efforts have focused primarily on preventing HSV-2 infections, the researchers write, not HSV-1 infections. But the latter can actually pose more serious risks than just cold sores.

What's more, according to the new report, is that sexually transmitted HSV-1 is on the rise, especially in the Americas, Europe, and the Western Pacific.

Aside from those cold sores, HSV-1 is the most common cause of sporadic encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). And while this brain infection is very rare, it kills more than 50% of those infected if left untreated, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The original WHO study was published on October 28, in the journal Plos One.

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