The Prevalence of Herpes Among the Campus Students

Herpes is one of the common sexually transmitted disease (STDs) that any person who is sexually active can get. Most of the people with the disease show no signs, but they can transmit the disease to their sexual partners. Genital herpes is caused by two types of viruses referred as herpes simplex type 1 and herpes simplex type 2(Center for Disesea Control and Prevention, 2014). In the United States, one out of six persons aged between 14 and 49 years is infected with genital herpes. The most affected group are the students in various Universities and that is why the paper wants to find out the prevalence rate at the campuses. In a number of Campuses in the United State, there is a herpes epidemic given the level of sexual relationships which the students are engaging themselves (Wald & Corey, 2007). This paper would focus on the prevalence of herpes among the students in the campus. The paper is very important given that it provides insights on the prevailing rate of herpes, hence appropriate measures would be put in place to reduce its spread. In addition, the paper is important for the future researchers since it will provide some information which is critical for their research.

Research Hypothesis

The increasing prevalence of herpes among the campus students is as a result of them engaging often in unprotected sex. Some of the other activities which spread the disease include body contact through kissing which is common among the students. As a result, the research would adopt the following hypotheses; The Null hypothesis (H0): This is the hypothesis which postulate that there is no relationship between the phenomena under study. In our case the null hypothesis would state that “There is no association between age of the student and the prevalence rate of herpes among them” The Alternative Hypothesis (H1): This is the hypothesis which postulate that a direct association exist between the two or more variable under study. In our case, alternative hypothesis state that “In fact age of the student has a direct relationship with the prevalence rate of herpes among the students”

The Review of the Literature

While the herpes prevalence is decreasing across the United States, a large population of the campus students risk acquiring and transmitting the disease as reported by director Bernette Melby of the University Health Service and Elizabeth Williams of School of Education. In addition, the report emphasizes the need for the clinicians to offer appropriate diagnosis, counseling and treatment to the patients. Further the report requires the sexual health programs set to come up with risk-reduction strategies that can help in countering misinformation about Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) (University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2010). The report also found out that even though the prevalence of HSV has reduced across the country, a growing population of the college students is at risk of acquiring and transmitting genital and oral infections (Beauman, 2005).

The majority of the childhood infection is associated with the cold sores, but at present HSV-1 is the common cause of the genital herpes among campus students (Carvalho, Carvalho, & Sumita, 1999). It is at the college that sexual activity and partying reach new highs for most students given new found sense of freedom. Partying accompanied by the drinking of alcohol contribute to the increase in the sexual activity. CDC data from National Surveillance Data found out that there are about nineteen million new STD infections every year for Chlamydia, Herpes, Syphilis and Gonorrnea, and almost half of people infected are young people between the age of 15 and 24 years (Hada, 2010). The consumption of alcohol and partying among the students increases the chances of them engaging themselves in unprotected sex hence increasing the chance of transmitting or getting infected with the herpes virus. The prevalence of the HSV 1 and HSV 2 infections by age varies by countries, regions and population subgroups.

For one to compare the prevalence of herpes infection between countries, region or geographic areas, age-specific or the “age-adjusted prevalence” among the population is required. The approximate of the HSV 1 and 2 prevalence present one to review measures such as median and mean which can be deceptive when the age of the population sample is never considered. For instance, HSV-2 seroprevance in the young adults with a particular mean age of twenty years would be anticipated to be lower than in an elderly person in the same population (Smith & Robinson, 2002). Dependable data on the overall prevalence of HSV -1 and -2 serum antibodies give an epidemiologic measure of population trouble of the infection. But the presence of the HSV-2 antibody exclusively shows past exposure to the genital infection, but may undervalue the prevalence of the genital herpes infections in places where the genital HSV-1 infection is very common (Guerry, Bauer, Klausner, Branagan, Kerndt, & Allen, 2005).

The strong relationship that exists between HSV-2 prevalence and the sexual behavior in various previous research indicates that age-specific HSV-2 prevalence provide a critical market for the sexual behavior (Looker, Magaret, Turner, Vickerman, Gottlieb, & Newman, 2015). The type-specific seroprevalence data are functional to identify a specific population subgroups, which have a higher risk of the HSV infection (Xu, Sternberg, & Kottiri, 2006).

Methods and Experimental Design

A sample of two hundred students would be picked randomly from the University selected in the United States. Then one hundred patients with the sexually transmitted diseases would be interviewed and his/her blood sample would be collected. Then, the students who are to take part in the study would also be picked randomly from the various programs offered in these institutions. Two or more students would not be picked even if they were selected if two or more students are coming from the same region. These ensure that a wide area would be covered by the study even if few students are selected to take part in the study. The age limit for the participants would be between 15 and 30 years given that they are the majority population in the universities, hence would be representative of the whole population (Hada, 2010). The number of the students that have been selected to participate in the study has been determined by the amount of resources available to carry out the research. The ratio of male and female students should be the same, but those with STDs would be picked randomly regardless of gender, and they should be one hundred only. The two subjects would not be subjected to a lot of selection as compared to normal students. The subjects will be approached and asked if they would complete the survey.

All questionnaires will be completed in front of the researcher and later collected by the same researcher. In addition, the subjects should answer the questions independently so that their own views would be captured and not that of others. No subject will be excluded from the research due to religion, race, or ethnicity as long as they are able to meet the specific requirement set by the researcher. The participation would be voluntary for all the subjects, also any subject is free to withdraw from taking part in the study. The study will use retrospective cohort observation study, with the sole purpose of examining the prevalence of herpes among the campus students in the United States. Total HSV -1 and -2 antibodies would be screened by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The type-specific HSV -2 antibodies would be detected by the western blot assay.

The data will be collected in the aggregate form and they will be kept in very secure file in the respective offices throughout and after the study. The frequency data for all the subjects will be put on the table by exposure to the disease. Later the data will be analyzed and presented for review by the respective persons tasked with the duty to review the study and provide the final conclusion. For the study to be credible it must be approved by the local Research and Ethics Committee or any other relevant authority tasked with authorization of research studies.

References

Beauman, J. G. (2005). Genital Herpes: A Review. American Family Physician , 1527-1534.

Carvalho, M., Carvalho, S. d., & Sumita, L. M. (1999). Prevalence of herpes simplex type 2 antibodies and a clinical history of herpes in three different populations in Campinas City, Brazil. International Journal of Infectious Diseases , 94-98.

Guerry, S. L., Bauer, H. M., Klausner, J. D., Branagan, 2. B., Kerndt, P. R., & Allen, B. G. (2005). Recommendations for the Selective Use of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Serological Tests. Clinical Infection Disease , 38-45.

Hada, M. (2010). A Sociological Research Paper and Proposal Of Alcohol’s Impact On Sexual Activity and Sexual Transmitted Diseases . California: California Polytechnic State University.

Looker, K. J., Magaret, A. S., Turner, K. M., Vickerman, P., Gottlieb, S. L., & Newman, L. M. (2015). Global Estimates of Prevalent and Incident Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Infections in 2012. PLOS ONE .

Smith, J. S., & Robinson, N. J. (2002). Age-Specific Prevalence of Infection with Herpes Simplex Virus Types 2 and 1: A Global Review. The Journal of Infectious Diseases , 3-28.

University of Maryland Medical Center. (2014). Herpes simplex virus. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from University of Maryland Medical Center: http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/herpes-simplex-virus

University of Massachusetts Amherst. (2010, December 14). Herpes risk high and growing for college students. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from Umass.edu: https://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/herpes-risk-high-and-growing-college-students

Wald, A., & Corey, L. (2007). Chapter 36 Persistence in the population: epidemiology, transmission. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Xu, F., Sternberg, M. R., & Kottiri, B. J. (2006). Trends in Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 and Type 2 Seroprevalence in the United States. American Medical Association , 964-973.