Britney Spears Has Herpes! (Maybe)

An essay about how the media treats celebrities, how people treat each other, and taboo medical conditions.

A few weeks ago a friend and I were chatting at a local bowling meet. I don’t like bowling, so I ended up just sitting and talking to a few friends for most of the meet. During the conversation, one of them brought up an article he had recently read. He said that the article pointed out various stars who had genital herpes. I asked him, with a bit of humor, who had herpes and how the writer(s) knew. I suspected that most of these cases were unconfirmed, and largely gossip-based. He said, “Well, Britney Spears has herpes, and they know because they caught her walking out of a drug store with acyclovir.”

It’s true, acyclovir is a generic of Zovirax, a drug used to treat genital herpes. Zovirax is also used to treat oral herpes, and related viruses, such as the one that causes shingles and chicken pox.

So let’s assume for a moment that Britney Spears did pick up a prescription for acyclovir. Is it not possible that she simply has a bad case of cold sores? According to University of Maryland Medical Center, “Everyone is at risk for oral herpes from HSV-1. In fact, studies suggest that by adolescence, 62% of Americans are infected with HSV-1. By the time people are in their 60s, up to 85% have been infected.” (UMM). Not to mention that as many of us know, stress can cause cold sores, as it lowers the immune system, thus giving the herpes virus (which lies dormant most of the time) a chance to resurface. At least, those of us who will admit we know will tell you that. The music business is an extremely stressful business, and if we (common folk) get cold sores because we didn’t turn in a paper on time, or the boss is expecting too much from us at the office, are celebrities still somehow not allowed to have the same maladies we do?

So when I told this to my friend, he nodded and considered it, then said, “I guess you’re right.”

So maybe like sixty-some percent of the population, Britney Spears has oral herpes. Or maybe she really does have genital herpes. Should we shame her for it? I’m not a Britney Spears fan, but I do have to defend her. People seem to like to kick stars when they are down. In fact, people love to kick people in general when they are down, famous or not. It’s funny how the media points out the unconfirmed, while conveniently pushing aside, even downright ignoring the real facts, just like children ignore other children’s good qualities, and make fun of each other for very trivial things.

So let’s say a little boy named Sam drew the most beautiful picture his Kindergarten teacher has ever seen. Let’s also say that he used every color in the crayon box, and masterfully blended them together into a gorgeous canvas of shades, hues, and shapes. Sam also has a slightly unattractive mole. So I will let you decide: Which do you think matters more? Sam’s mole? Or his talent for art? I can guarantee that whichever you find most important will imply what sort of person you are.

Sources

“Herpes Simplex Virus.” University of Maryland Medical Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 July 2014.

Author's Note

I would like to ask upfront, that you please read the article thoroughly before commenting. This is not at all meant to make fun of the star. The title, as you will notice as you read, is an attention grabber meant to mock gossip, not create it.