Private MD News

Fake article may have been a wakeup call

Category: Herpes

Last week college students around the country may have momentarily questioned the safety of a popular party game thanks to a news article claiming the sexually-transmitted disease herpes could be spread through beer pong.

The article, which was later revealed to be a hoax, stated the Centers for Disease Control did a study and found the game pitting one team against another in an attempt to throw a ping pong ball into a cup of beer was a major contributor to the spread of herpes.

While the CDC dismissed the study, and presumably gave relief to beer pong enthusiasts around the country, it did spark a conversation among younger people about the prevalence of herpes and how to protect against contracting the disease.

The U.S. National Institute of Health recommends people not share any eating utensils to lessen the chance of contract a disease such as herpes as well as not sharing drinks, which is most likely how the beer pong myth formed.

However, one of the best ways is to determine if one has contracted the disease is to get herpes testing. People who know they have herpes can get prescribed medication to control outbreaks as well as use caution to prevent the spread of the disease.