I wish doctors understood this better.
HPV is like the flu. There are many strains. You’ve been exposed to some (something like 50% of people contract HPV their first time having sex) but by no means all.
The HPV vaccine protects you from some of the most common and most dangerous strains.
Have you been exposed to some of those? Maybe. Is it a good idea to get the vaccine anyways? Absolutely.
At least one herpes virus causes cancer.
So does drinking coffee.
The “almost” is doing a lot of work here. While it’s not the majority, it’s not that uncommon for people to have recurrent outbreaks. And some of those people will have unpleasant symptoms. Not to mention some times the primary infection can be a real bitch.
Estimates are all over the place depending on the source you look at, but I think even the most conservative estimates would place it at about 10% of people who will find it at least extremely fucking annoying.
Maybe that’s “almost”, but still do not want.
I also wish it weren’t stigmatizing, but on the other hand if you know you have it and don’t disclose to partner I would judge you harshly for it.
Above notwithstanding, I’d say that the Clovis stance of 'herpes is nothing to worry about "is probably closer to the truth than how most people perceive it (i.e., “OMG herpes!”). But neither stance is quite right.
In common usage (at least here in USA #1), when people say “herpes” they’re referring to HSV 1 & 2 infection.
No one with chicken pox, for example, is ever described as having herpes, even though that’s technically a Herpervirus also. I suppose if someone gets zoster, they can then develop “postherpetic” neuralgia. But that’s as close as you can get to using ‘herpes’ for a non-HSV-1/2 infection that I can think of.
The ones associated with cancer are not the ones associated with the disease Clovis is talking about (i.e. genital herpes). By my count it’s two, but those cancers are almost nothing to worry about in healthy people. And by “almost”, I mean way less of a worry than what Clovis means when he says almost.
This is the one I had in mind:
HHV-8
(spoilered for mildly gross skin disease picture in the Wikipedia article)
Yeah, that’s one. That same HHV can cause another rare cancer.
Also HHV-4 can cause a type of lymphoma which is common in Africa in places where malaria is endemic.
I was putting a lot of weight on the “almost”. Nobody would want herpes. I sure don’t. Knock on wood. But my overall point, which you made better than I, was that the actual effect is far less than the perceived effect. People act like it’s some kind of social or actual death sentence when in fact it’s a rather minor, however annoying, infection.
As long as your sex life is exciting for you and your partner(s) that is all that matters.
Bad take. Not stigmatizing a medical condition is different from conflating it with something that literally lowers your chance of dying. People with herpes should def be extra vigilant with monitoring their skin for changes. My friends with cold sores and herp are used to how it “feels” (tingle then burn, etc.) and any variance should be discussed with their doc.
You sure you aren’t one of the asymptomatic carriers? Have you been antibody tested?
If you’ve faded it, you’re running pretty good.
Oh I absolutely guarantee I’m an an asymptomatic carrier of at least strain. I’ve just never had an outbreak.
I actually can’t remember if it’s in my normal testing cause I don’t worry about it much. I get tested twice a year. I’ll have to look.
Can’t believe a swinger such as yourself has never tried grapeseed oil.
I used to go all in on coconut oil until it gave a partner some crotch rot once so never again. It works well but I fear it’s not as safe. Silicone only these days.
You have to be careful for any natural oil for sure. It can mess up a woman.
Calm down. No where did I say anything about getting pleasure from shaming anyone. I’m happy to talk about this if you want to treat me like a person instead of like something on the bottom of your shoe.
Are you gonna make me use the ancient search feature of 22 to find out who it is?
Don’t think he even revealed it there.
I don’t know what there is to talk about? Don’t be an asshole to people that have STIs, or, like, any other medical condition. If you don’t understand that at this point in your life, I don’t know that there’s going to be any combination of words we can exchange that will solve that issue.
Ok.
Somebody dropped deetz but I can’t remember. Must have been Dominic. I don’t care enough to locate it with 1998 forum software.