Years ago, I was working in a very international office in the UK with many British, European, Asian, and North American colleagues.
One day, a colleague from Eastern Europe came in with a cold sore and mentioned she was having a flare-up. Most of us thought nothing of it.
However, later at the pub, two American colleagues who had seen her told me how disturbed they were that she “has herpes”. I laughed awkwardly, surprised by their over-reaction. Where I'm from, most people have herpes, and it isn’t considered shameful in any way. It isn’t even tested for at STI check-ups because it’s seen as so benign.
Is herpes so commonly stigmatised in the US? If so, why?