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Genital herpes rates are still very high in the US, and a new report reveals women and African-Americans are most at risk. The numbers are stunning, though one doctor cited in an NPR interview pointed out that even though the percentages are high, they have somewhat stabilized.

Women's Health: Genital Herpes Rates High, One in Six in US Infected.

CNN reported this week that as many as 16 percent of the U.S. population between the ages of 14 and 49 has genital herpes, citing a government study released that revealed the high numbers of infected individuals.


The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) noted in the release that "infection rates for the lifelong and incurable infection varied by gender and race."

WebMD.Com has more here on the findings including the revelation that women and African-Americans were the most likely to be infected.

According to the findings: "HSV-2 prevalence was nearly twice as high among women (21%) as men (11%), and more than three times higher among African-Americans (39%) than whites (12%)."


Dr. Adaora Adimora, a professor at the University of North Carolina's Center for Infectious Diseases told NPR: "It's important because of the illness it causes for people with it, and the fact that it can be transmitted from mother to child during childbirth, and the very important fact that it facilitates HIV infection."

She added: "So, since it's a lifelong illness, unlike say gonorrhea, it probably contributes to the high rates of HIV -- especially among Blacks in the states."

CNN points out that These new numbers are from data between 2005 and 2008 and are consistent with the last study, which covered 1999-2004.