Oops. In the rush to teach kids about AIDS, did anyone bother to mention those other sexually transmitted diseases? The ones that aren't fatal--except to some newborn babies of infected mothers--but just plain miserable? In the urgency to push condoms on teenagers, did anyone mention that even when used correctly they aren't a total protection against STDs?

Do people tempted to have extramarital sex understand the risks they are taking when 25.6 percent of women and 17.8 percent of men have herpes (17.6 percent of whites and 45.9 percent of blacks)? Simply asking a prospective partner about a history of herpes isn't enough protection. A big majority of those who have the virus aren't aware of it and could endanger others without realizing it.

Four to seven days after the virus, known medically as herpes simplex virus type 2, enters the body, it may cause itchy, painful sores in the genital area and occasionally fever and malaise. Eventually, the virus shifts to nerve sites in the lower back where it remains indefinitely until something causes it to replicate and move back down nerve pathways to the genital area for a new outbreak.