(NewsNation) — It’s almost unfathomable to think that every person in the world can have the same virus, and then there’s Herpes.
Herpes? Correct. It has become apparent that most people are exposed to Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1) at the age of five. Even more bizarre is that people can carry the virus — which leads to oral and genital herpes — and not show any symptoms at all.
“When a person is exposed to the herpes virus, the virus travels through the body to nerve cells near the spinal cord known as a dorsal root ganglion,” says Healthline.com.
“For some people, the virus stays there latent and never causes any symptoms or problems.”
Statistics revealed that 1 in 2 American adults possesses oral herpes, while 1 in 8 Americans as a whole aged 14-49 possess genital herpes. How? A majority of HSV infections are asymptomatic, which can go undetected and leave people in the dark.
“To make a diagnosis, a doctor or other healthcare provider would have to take a sample of fluid from a blister lesion or take a small sample of the skin lesion and send it to a lab for testing,” added the website.
Individuals won’t know if they have herpes unless they develop blisters or cold sores that cause a burning and tingling sensation.