The virus isn't included in many STI screens because of issues with false positives, lack of evidence of testing leading to better health, and the unnecessary stress that the test causes. To further compound this, it's not exactly easy to get tested for herpes. Some were rushed through their appointments and denied resources while others had time to ask questions and received supplemental materials. One 2004 study showed that some patients didn't receive prescriptions to treat the virus while others did. These patients don't always get the help they need once they go to a doctor's office. But not everyone is as strong or optimistic.Īnother contributing factor to herpes patients' poor experiences is inadequate care. Luckily, he pushed through and decided to help other herpes patients through his online community Herpes Opportunity. In speaking to NPR, he shared that he thought his romantic life was over. He learned he had herpes in 2015, and he initially felt ashamed and afraid. They'd rather suffer in private instead of getting the help they need and risking the judgment of others.Īnd things don't always get better with the right diagnosis and treatment. That's because 4 in 5 of these patients won't get tested. 12% of Americans - that's millions of people - have contracted HSV-2 but have never been properly diagnosed. This social stigma can affect herpes patients in awful ways. On the surface, it might not seem like a big deal that people are being made fun of on a TV show, but it's bigger than a single joke. Those jokes were often based on inaccuracies and helped perpetuate the wide misunderstanding about those suffering from the virus. Over the course of several years, shows ranging from The Office to Family Guy included jokes about people with herpes. To make matters worse, herpes patients are often the butt of jokes on popular TV shows. In many of those articles, herpes was simply substituted for dirty. In 2015, the term "herpes dirty" turned up an estimated 600,000 results. And though almost 50 years have passed since the piece ran, that view remains practically unchanged. One article published in TIME referred to herpes as that era's "scarlet letter". Some of the earliest fearmongering about herpes dates back to the 1970s. The lack of knowledge means herpes patients face intense negativity they're aren't just misunderstood - they're ridiculed and vilified. Many people don't understand how herpes affects the body, how people contract it, and what effects it has on the patient. Because of this, the disease isn't discussed openly and the facts are hard to come by. Herpes patients tend to suffer in silence - their outbreaks aren't usually visible to strangers and their symptoms aren't as severe as other STIs. Still, even as the general public learns to accept some infectious diseases, there are others that remain on the blacklist, like herpes. The stigma hasn't been erased, but it's not as prevalent as it was in decades past. Things have improved over the last few decades, however, thanks to accessible and effective medications and groundbreaking discoveries. There was a period in time when HIV was a commonly feared and misunderstood STI. (Photo : Image by fernando zhiminaicela from Pixabay )
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