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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JULY 30, 1982
PAGE 7
employees jokingly refer to the swimming facilities at Hugh
Hefner's Los Angeles mansion as "the herpes pool."••. Flesh
Merchant Al Goldstein, editor of [ unprintable l magazine, says
glumly, "It may be there is a god in heaven carving out his pound
of flesh for all our joys."
Why the dramatic rise now in the incidence of herpes?
Sexual
freedom is obviously implicated. "With herpes, every � case is
added to the pool," says Dr. Yehudi Felman, a New York City VD
specialist. "The increase is exponential after � while."
Not
only are more people indulging in sex, they are also more active
--starting younger, marrying later, divorcing more often. The
wider acceptance of oral sex has also played a role.
Herpes
Type I produces cold sores in the mouth; Herpes II, genital
lesions. [But Herpes I can become a venereal disease if spread
there through oral sex.
This practice, in fact spreads both
viruses in each directionJ
Many swingers have dropped out because of herpes. And a trip to a
prostitute is a high-stakes gamble••••The epidemic has clear1
y
made married philanderers extremely wary. Few things cool extra
marital ardor like the specter of passing on an incurable disease
to a mate and then having to explain where it came from•.••Wives
now give husbands smiling lectures on the ravages of the disease
to keep them faithful••••
The herpes virus itself is a particularly perplexing and defiant villain,
as described in TIME's follow-up article, "Battling an Elusive Invader."
It has been labeled "the ultimate parasite." It could also be called a most
intimate parasite. Once herpes has found its way into your system, says Dr.
Harold Kessler, a Chicago specialist in infectious diseases, "it's your
virus for life•
11
It does this by taking over the protein-producing
apparatus of the host cell, initiating what one expert calls a "biological
couo d'etat."
----
Once the initial attack has been brought under control by the body's
immunological system, the virus retreats, in the case of genital herpes, to
the sacral ganglia which is a cluster of nerve cells near the base of the
spinal cord. Here the herpes simplex virus lodges safely beyond the reach
of the body's immune system and enters a latent stage.
The virus reinfects the original site capriciously, sometimes twice a
month, causing discomforting sores and lesions, sometimes (though rarely)
as seldom as once a decade. Since physical and emotional stress seems the
most likely trigger to reinfection, herpes sufferers try to lead tranquil
lives, some practicing yoga.
Genital herpes has its particularly dangerous manifestations also, espe
cially to the unborn. Should genital herpes recur in the final weeks of
pregnancy, look out! It is estimated that about half of newborns pick up
the disease when traversing the birth canal. Of those infected, up to 60%
die, and for the survivers there is a 50% risk of blindness or brain damage!
The Herpes simplex virus has remarkably altered the "etiquette" of promis
cuous �ehavior, notes the TIME special report: