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Woman 'contracts incurable disease at karaoke bar after holding mic too close to her face' READ MORE: I contracted a 'harmless' and little-known virus while pregnant By SADIE WHITELOCKS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM Published: 22:02 BST, 28 April 2025 | Updated: 22:02 BST, 28 April 2025 e-mail View comments A woman claims that she got more than she bargained for after a trip to her local karaoke bar. The unnamed woman from Zhejiang, China , revealed on Douyin - China's version of TikTok - that she ended up contracting the herpes virus by getting too close to a microphone, according to reports.
According to her post, she developed blisters around her mouth shortly after her singing excursion and tests revealed she had the infection. The woman did not reveal what strain of herpes she caught. HSV-1 is the kind that causes cold sores, while HSV-2 typically causes genital symptoms.
There is no cure for either virus and both remain in the body, dormant. 'I have to carry this virus for life; there is no medication available to treat it,' the woman lamented. 'There is only medication to relieve the pain, but the symptoms are recurring.
' Eight years on, the amateur singer says she is still dealing with a range of uncomfortable symptoms associated with herpes, and the cold sores even made their way onto her cheeks earlier this year. Experts from Li.Lac, a tech company which makes a disinfecting device for microphones, warns that 'contaminated microphones can spread harmful bacteria or viruses, like the flu or other diseases'.
It adds: 'This is particularly concerning in settings where multiple people may be using the same microphone, such as in recording studios, theaters, and conference rooms. One woman claims that she got more than she bargained for after a trip to her local karaoke bar 'In addition, microphones can harbor allergens and irritants that can trigger respiratory issues for those who are sensitive.' However, HSV-1 - the virus which typically causes oral herpes - is quite fragile outside the body, and once saliva dries, the virus typically becomes inactive.
The highest risk would be if you were to immediately use a mic that someone with an active cold sore had come into contact with and you have broken skin on your mouth that the virus could enter through. A report this year revealed that more than 846million adults worldwide are currently living with genital herpes. Genital herpes is an exceedingly common and life-long sexually transmitted disease spread by two types of the herpes simplex virus (HSV).
Your browser does not support iframes. Both types one and two can cause genital herpes. Type one typically manifests as cold sores, while HSV-2 is generally associated with sexual transmission and genital herpes.
An international team of researchers sought to improve upon earlier methods to estimate the prevalence of both types of HSV worldwide in people under 50, starting with the World Health Organization 's 2012 and 2016 estimates. Researchers determined that the global prevalence of incurable genital herpes has been on the decline in recent years. Around 1 in 5 people under 50, or 846 million globally, are living with genital herpes, according to the latest estimates Both herpes simplex virus types one and two can cause genital herpes.
Type one, which can occur at a young age, typically causes oral herpes (manifested as cold sores), while HSV-2 is generally associated with sexual transmission and genital herpes More broadly, the research team determined that two-thirds of the global population – around 3.8 billion people – were living with any form of the more common HSV-1 in 2020. In 2020 alone, there were 122 million new HSV-1 infections in people from birth to 49 years old, including 16.
8 million new genital infections. And among people 15 to 39 affected by sexually-transmitted HSV-2, researchers identified 26 million new infections in 2020, bringing the total number of people currently living with HSV-2 to 520 million. Around 20million Americans test positive for sexually transmitted infections every year.
Between 50 and 80 percent of Americans get the occasional cold sore, while about 12 percent of Americans 14 to 49 years old have genital herpes. Read More More than half of Americans with STIs were infected by cheating partners, survey finds Genital herpes causes painful blisters and open sores at times on the vagina, penis, labia, or testicles, but it can also be asymptomatic. Additionally, the herpes simplex family of viruses can lay dormant in the body without causing noticeable problems.
When the virus infects a person, it may travel up to a cluster of sensory nerves in the brain and remain dormant there for months or even years after the initial infection. But in times of stress, severe fatigue, or changes to the immune system, the virus can reactivate, multiply, and travel back to the skin through nerve fibers. These stressful times can result in new blisters in the same area as the initial infection.
People diagnosed with genital herpes are treated with prescription antiviral medications to make outbreaks shorter and less painful, but there is no cure. TikTok China Share or comment on this article: Woman 'contracts incurable disease at karaoke bar after holding mic too close to her face' e-mail Add comment Comments 0 Share what you think No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.
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