Coachella didn’t cause a herpes spike, health officials say

Following rumor that there was a huge spike in herpes cases since the first weekend of Coachella, California public health officials have shut down the claims.

According to NME, an STD diagnosis app called HerpAlert saw a spike in reported cases by nearly 2,083% in the Indio, California area. The app allegedly experienced a whopping 250 cases per day, as opposed to their usual 12.

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However, members of the Riverside Department of Public Health have come forward to refute the app’s data.

“I reached out to our lab departments, disease control and our HIV and STD program and none of them reported a spike in herpes cases,” public information officer Jose Arballo says.

The Blast also reports other health officials agree that app does not reflect fact-checked or official information, even despite being a useful resource. That said, if a spike were to actually occur at all, the data would not specifically confirm the rise happened as a result of Coachella, or it’s country counterpart Stagecoach.  

Additionally, according to Billboard, Dr. Jill Grimes, a board-certified family physician says symptoms would not appear for days following attendees’ encounters. Traditionally, symptoms would instead take take anywhere from two to 12 days to appear.

Now, HerpAlert medical director Lynn Marie Morski has since clarified the app’s data, saying the rise may have been a result of people trying to take preventative measures.

“There were many coming to get medication to treat and prevent flares,” Morski says. “We see it as people deciding to take proactive care of their health and the health of those they may interact with over the weekend. We do not have a number of diagnosed new cases, as sometimes we cannot determine via their history and photos, so we have to advise they see a provider in person.”

What do you think about the stigma surrounding music festivals and STDs? Let us know in the comments below.

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