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Herpes |
An open letter to the President of the USA
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Edward Siguel, MD PhD |
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Dear Mr. President: Someone you know is likely infected with Herpes Simplex II (HSV-II). Someone else you know will likely become infected this year. Many of your friends are probably infected. Over the next 5 years, you will meet and touch hundreds, perhaps thousands, of persons infected with HSV-II. Someone might get HSV-II from kissing or touching someone who does not know he/she is infected. They might get it by unintentionally touching something which was recently touched by an infected person who is shedding huge amounts of viruses. With ~25% of Americans infected with the virus, it is almost impossible to escape the consequences. What are you going to do about it? A dear friend of mine discovered she had Herpes Simplex II. We tried to determine what to do next, and consulted Internet home sites of the federal government, leading universities, and public health institutions. The results were frightful. Our search engine found more than 10,000 sites; we reviewed more than 30 belonging to established medical groups, and about 70 from various other sources. We found the information from these sources inconsistent, inaccurate, and incomplete. Advice given by her health care provider and school was also misleading, inaccurate and incomplete. These sources vastly underestimated the risk of infection from a person with no obvious signs of infection (but likely shedding the virus). The long-term consequences of Herpes are vastly understated to make people feel safe. Some commercials imply that taking some drugs would make your life happy with no likely adverse consequences. Government data indicates that more than 500,000 Americans contract HSV-II every year; there are now between 5,000,000 and 20,000,000 cases. Among college students, the incidence and prevalence has reached such epidemic proportions that this must be the No. 1 health problem in America. Yet some government publications state that this is not a serious health problem! Talking with physicians and counselors, one gets the distinct and explicit impression that using a condom will prevent one from getting HSV-II. News media, health counselors, and Internet sites may not explain the magnitude of the problem. We found a lack of answers to critical questions. By providing incomplete and misleading answers rather than facing the problem and preventing it from getting worse, insufficient recommendations and research will contribute to the epidemic. We must explain that touching, oral sex and kissing can transmit the disease to another person or spread it to oneself. An infected person may shed the virus without showing any evidence of infection at any time. The infected site may be the vaginal area, but can also include the mouth. One person can spread the infection to other areas of his/her body, such as the mouth, by accidentally touching infected areas. It appears that the extent of the disease can be made substantially worse by unprotected contact with another infected person, or by self-infection. I could not find data on the expected survival of the virus in air. While some web sites warned about sharing clothing, eating utensils, food, and towels with infected people, and even about holding hands, others implied that it is impossible to get infected through these routes! Current recommendations state that diet plays a major role in recurrences. They say that one should eat a healthy diet and avoid stress and (unknown) conditions that cause recurrences. These are general and useless statements. Nowhere is "healthy diet" clearly explained. Some research indicates that avoiding cereals and foods with a low ratio of the amino acids Lysine to Arginine and eating foods with a high ratio (mostly animal sources) prevents recurrence. Thus, it would appear that following the current USDA Food Pyramid recommendations could increase recurrence! Research has shown a critical role for EFAs and the ratio of w3/w6 in increasing resistance to infections, yet most women's magazines recommend diets low in fat and deprived of w3s. So, what should we tell patients to eat? What is a healthy diet? Meaningful descriptions of these issues and practical guidelines to prevent infection are nowhere to be found. For example, how easy is it to get HSV-II in the eye? What are the risks of catching different strains of the virus, or of making the disease worse? Are antibodies to Herpes I protective against HSV-II? Does taking showers help to reduce shedding? Can we get HSV-II from touching a condom shortly after exposure to the virus? Should clothing be washed with special chemicals? Should infected people stop using cloth towels and use only paper towels? How can we live with an infected child, spouse, or friend? How can one diagnose and monitor the status of the disease? Can we train people to recognize the disease's symptoms and to inspect themselves carefully every week? What are the best strategies to follow for couples who wish to have children when one partner is infected? Organizations appear fearful to tell the whole truth about the disease's risks and consequences. We should not state that HSV-II is a harmless infection; the virus infects neurological tissue, and repeated episodes could destroy organs, alter the immune system, and reduce life span. Concealing or ignoring these facts makes the problem much worse. Unless drastic preventive steps are taken soon, most of our next generation will be infected. We must revamp our entire education program and find a way to have safe sex, by studying how to reduce infection. We must encourage self-responsibility, so those infected do not act carelessly or resentfully and seek to infect others. We must learn more about the virus's survivability in different media, to help determine what we must do and what is not necessary. Thousands of inexpensive studies could be conducted to resolve practical problems and prevent spread until a cure is found. We can control the epidemic if we try. We are wasting billions of dollars on fancy airplanes to defend against non-existing enemies. The enemy is within; it is us. Nobody is safe. Unless dramatic steps are taken now, we will destroy America's youth, our own children, and even ourselves. Sincerely yours, Edward Siguel, MD, PhD |
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© 1998-9 Edward Siguel. All rights reserved |
modified 3/26/98 |