Over 200 million individuals aged 15–49 likely experienced at least one symptomatic outbreak in 2020, highlighting the urgent need for vaccines to reduce the spread of HSV and mitigate its health and financial impacts, according to researchers.
Approximately one in five people worldwide under the age of 50—around 846 million individuals—are estimated to be living with genital herpes, according to the latest global data published in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.
In 2020, the most recent year for which data is available, more than 200 million people aged 15-49 likely experienced at least one symptomatic outbreak of the infection, the analysis suggests.
These findings highlight the urgent need for the development of new treatments and vaccines to control the spread of genital herpes and mitigate its health and economic impact. Current treatment options have shown only modest effectiveness at the population level, the researchers note.
Understanding Herpes Simplex Virus
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) exists in two types: HSV-1 and HSV-2. Both are highly infectious, incurable, and lifelong conditions.
- HSV-1: Commonly transmitted during childhood through mouth-to-mouth contact, HSV-1 typically causes “cold sores” around the mouth. It can, however, lead to severe neurological, ocular, and mucocutaneous complications. Increasingly, it is also being transmitted through sexual contact in adulthood.
- HSV-2: Primarily spread through sexual skin-to-skin contact, HSV-2 is the leading cause of recurrent painful genital sores. Both HSV-1 and HSV-2 can be transmitted to newborns during childbirth, which can have fatal consequences, although such occurrences are rare.
In a bid to update previous estimates of the global incidence and prevalence of genital HSV infection, the researchers incorporated a series of recent comprehensive systematic reviews and pooled data analyses published up to March 2022
And they deployed mathematical modeling to estimate the global and regional incidence and prevalence of genital HSV infection and related symptoms in 2020.
Based on the available data, the researchers estimated that globally 26 million 15–49 year olds were newly infected with HSV-2 infection, and an estimated 520 million had existing infection—just over 13% of those in this age group.
An estimated 17 million 15–49 year olds acquired HSV-1 infection genitally, and an estimated 376 million (10% of those in this age group) had existing infection in 2020.
In all, two-thirds of the global population up to the age of 49—-nearly 4 billion people—-were infected (mostly orally) with HSV-1 in 2020, the researchers estimated.
Global Impact of Genital Herpes
The researchers estimated that the total global numbers of new and existing HSV infections among 15–49-year-olds in 2020 were 42 million and 846 million, respectively.
And the estimated number of 15–49-year-olds who had at least one episode of genital sores in 2020 was 188 million for those infected with HSV-2, and 17 million for those infected with genital HSV-1, adding up to a total of 205 million.
The researchers acknowledge various limitations to their findings, including the scarcity of data for people at either end of the age spectrum and relatively wide ranges for some of their estimates.
But they nevertheless conclude: “HSV infections are widely prevalent in all global regions, leading to a significant burden of [genital ulcer disease] with repercussions on psychosocial, sexual, and reproductive health, neonatal transmission, and HIV transmission. However, hardly any specific programs for HSV prevention and control exist, even in resource-rich countries.”
They add: “There is a need for HSV prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines as a strategic approach to control transmission and to curb the disease and economic burdens of these infections.”
Reference: “Estimated global and regional incidence and prevalence of herpes simplex virus infections and genital ulcer disease in 2020: mathematical modelling analyses” by Manale Harfouche, Sawsan AlMukdad, Asalah Alareeki, Aisha M M Osman, Sami Gottlieb, Jane Rowley, Laith J Abu-Raddad and Katharine J Looker, 10 December 2024, Sexually Transmitted Infections.
DOI: 10.1136/sextrans-2024-056307
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3 Comments
How about finding a CURE, instead of the dodgy vaccine?
What use is a vaccine to those people that already got heroes
*herpes
Prevention is better than vaccines, which have never been shown to prevent to cure any disease. We don’t need more dodgy jabs, but a sex education campaign to highlight the dangers of certain dodgy sexual practices which are becoming increasingly widespread in our degenerate society.