25% and 15% do not average out to be 40%
That part I am incorrect about, I'm going on over 24 hours of no sleep. However, that doesn't change the fact about what I said about the current statistics. Or that 40% is incorrect.
Show me a study that says this. The textbook doesn't count. I have about 10 studies I can cite that disprove that number.
Again, you're completely ignoring what I said. Forty percent comes from the average of people who knowingly AND unknowingly have it. Other studies primarily cite *who they found to be positive - that doesn't mean that it fits the entire population because. the CDC stated that 80% of the people who they tested positive had no clue they even had it. And no, 8,000 compared to 320 MILLION is not a lot. In fact, that's only testing *.0025%** of the population.
And frankly, yes the textbook does count because they get these informations from studies. Where else do you think they get it? They just pull it out from thin air? Not only that, but the number raises each year by around a million people, which means the number is always rising. That's why the studies cite their percentages as estimates.
50 million people in the US have been tested positive (key word) for genital herpes. Out of 320 million, that's roughly 15% - the number you're referring to. However, "42 million American are unaware they have genital herpes". Overall, that's about 90 million Americans who have genital herpes, whether they've been tested positive or not. Out of 320 million, that's one study that confirms the average to be at least around 30% of the US population - but again, this number grows exponentially every year.
If you're not clean then what are you?
You're taking the word clean too literally. When someone says clean of STDs - it just means they don't have them. Just because I'm not clean of herpes doesn't mean I'm dirty - it just means I have it.
And again, all the studies you're pointing to clearly state that it's those percentages come from who are tested positive for it based off of a very very small percentage of the entire population. Most of the population doesn't even get tested for it. If most of the entire population got tested for it, or they used an even larger sample, then it would hold more accuracy, but they don't. You're ignoring all other variables. Just because studies have found that roughly 15-17% have tested positive for it doesn't mean that it's at all accurate when the majority of the population don't get tested for herpes in the first place, and then continue to spread it, so the number grows. I already talked to my professor about all of this last week, as I mentioned, so no thanks.