article_snippet.sent: A recent college graduate diagnosed with genital herpes is stepping into the limelight in attempt to destigmatize STIs.
article_snippet.sent: Ella Dawson, a recent graduate of Wesleyan University who resides in New York City, was diagnosed with genital herpes two years ago and says A recent college graduate diagnosed with genital herpes's been dropping the 'herpes bomb' about six months after A recent college graduate diagnosed with genital herpes had A recent college graduate diagnosed with genital herpes first outbreak.
article_snippet.sent: In A recent college graduate diagnosed with genital herpes essay for Women's Health Mag, Dawson recalls meeting a boy at a party who offered A recent college graduate diagnosed with genital herpes a sip of a boy beer.
article_snippet.sent: Dawson said that even though herpes is often the bud of the joke in popular culture, herpes's a real issue affecting at least one in six Americans.
article_snippet.sent: Because when a real person — a woman you know and respect — casually mentions having herpes, it stops being a punchline and starts being someone's reality.'
article_snippet.sent: Don't strain: Dawson says that people who have herpes should not feel 'dirty or wrong' and should be aware that the virus is manageable and more common than people would expect .
article_snippet.sent: According to the CDC about 17 per cent of people ages 14-19 have genital herpes caused by HSV2.
article_snippet.sent: That percentage is only of people who choose to get tested and the actual number of people who have the virus is likely much higher.
article_snippet.sent: The Washington Post reports that according to an advocacy group called Project Accept Herpes didn't become a stigma until after the 1970s. '
article_snippet.sent: Herpes was merely a cold sore in an unusual place until the 1970s,' an advocacy group called Project Accept Herpes says on an advocacy group called Project Accept Herpes web site.
article_snippet.sent: Herpes was seen as this marker of being promiscuous or bad or evil,' Ella Dawson said. '
article_snippet.sent: Leone said that safe sex is very important but that Herpes is not merely a sexual condition but Herpes primarily a skin condition. '
highlights_snippet.sent: Ella Dawson, 22, a recent graduate of Wesleyan is revealing Ella Dawson, 22, a recent graduate of Wesleyan genital herpes status in an attempt to destigmatize the STI .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: One in six Americans have genital herpes and that number is just among people who have been tested .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: 'When a real person, a woman you know and respect, casually mentions having herpes, it stops being a punchline and starts being someone's reality,' Dawson said .