Now however the CDC is clarifying their information.

48% of the Black women they tested were positive for exposure to herpes but not the disease itself in a study of just 5,000 women.

The Root reports that the CDC's data came from the National Health and Nutrition Survey or (NHANES) of 5,000 randomly selected women.

Dr. John Douglas, the director of the division of STD Prevention at the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention at the CDC also says that more Black people were tested in the study than any other group to make it more “representative.”

Uhhh.

He tells The Root,

"African Americans are also oversampled to make the study more representative.”

He also adds that the numbers from the testing have remained relatively consistent for years.

"The herpes numbers for black women have remained relatively the same over several years at 46 percent to 51 percent. In the 1988-94 NHANES sample, the prevalence of herpes among black women was 51.3 percent, in the 2004 survey the number was 46.1 percent. That places the current rate--48 percent--right in the middle. NHANES is less than perfect, but without a doubt the best that we have.”

Dr. David Malebranche an assistant professor at Emory whose research focuses on STDs in African Americans further clarified the CDC's data to The Root saying,

“These women were only tested for antibodies to the HSV-2 virus. This means that they have been exposed to the herpes virus, but it does not mean that these women have actually developed the disease or have active herpes. In fact, they may never develop active herpes."

So according to the CDC 48% of Black women have been exposed to the Herpes virus but may not have the disease although they tested only 5,000 women in a study overly populated with African Americans.

Interesting.

The medical group released a press release Tuesday detailing their findings.

According to the CDC herpes is still one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the United States.

The study shows that women and Blacks are the most commonly infected with women at 20.5% and Blacks at 39.2%, nearly three times the rate of whites at 12.3%. Black women top everyone else's rates altogether at 48%.

Kevin Fenton, M.D., director of CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, released a statement saying that the high rate of genital herpes is likely linked to the disproportionate HIV problem in the Black community.

"We are particularly concerned about persistent high rates of herpes among African-Americans, which is likely contributing to disproportionate rates of HIV in the black community."

The CDC also estimates that over 80 percent of those with HSV-2 are unaware of their infection.  Symptoms may be absent, mild, or mistaken for another condition. People with HSV-2 often transmit it without knowing it, they may have no visible sores or signs.

48%?

This is a real problem people.

Be safe out there and please get tested.

Approximately 46% of new AIDS cases in the year 2007 were from the South, beating the average set by the Northeast (25%) and West (17%) by significant margins.

Though this fact is alarming, it adds a face to the crippling realities of inequality within our government by spotlighting how funding is appropriated.

Southern states currently rank last on the federal funding list for many social projects and services, including AIDS care and prevention, with only $6,565 a year spent on those infected with HIV.

States like Kentucky and Mississippi are being hit the hardest due to the lack of funds, with the latter only having eight public clinics to service the 9,000 HIV patients residing within the state.

Nearly 28.4 million Americans partake in the Department of Agriculture's federal food stamp program for low-income families.

That figure allowed the federal agency to calculate that nearly half of all, and 90% of Black children, will use the colorful coupons during childhood. The same organization has also speculated that the current economic state of America's economy will likely drive those figures significantly higher.

A study by Thomas Hirschl of Cornell University, that made use of surveys conducted between 1968 to 1997, found that 49% of all children have utilized food stamps before their 20th birthday. Astonishingly, only 37% of white children were counted as having used the program at that time.

“The current recession is likely to generate for children in the United States the greatest level of material deprivation that we will see in our professional lifetimes,” remarked Dr. Paul Wise, a pediatrician at Stanford‘s Medical Facility.

A study conducted by the CDC earlier this year also revealed that one-third of Black Americans are clinically obese. That is nearly 36% of the all Black citizens, more than any other ethnic or racial group.