Historical findings in subjects from a high socioeconomic group who have genital infections with herpes simplex virus.

A highly motivated, self-selected group of 1,535 men and 1,607 women of middle-to-high socioeconomic class who had recurring genital herpes were surveyed in an assessment of the historical characteristics of these subjects and their disease. All subjects lived in the continental United States and were members of the national herpes organization, HELP, sponsored by the American Social Health Association. Subjects were predominantly well-educated white persons (mean educational level, 15.2 years) earning > $20,000 per year. The mean ages of acquisition of genital herpes were 26.9 years for women and 30.8 years for men. The mean durations of infection were 3.9 years for women and 5.1 years for men. Women usually acquired genital herpes between the ages of 20 and 29 years, whereas substantial numbers of men experienced their initial episodes of infection when they were in their thirties. The population studied was predominantly heterosexual. Many of the subjects, especially the men, had experienced other sexually transmitted diseases such as gonococcal or nongonococcal urethritis. Over two-thirds of the subjects experienced more than five relapses every year, and the percentage of subjects with more than five recurrences yearly did not decrease with time.