Congenital herpes simplex virus infection among hospitalized infants in Poland

Abstract

Introduction and objective.Congenital herpes simplex virus infection (cHSV) is a rare entity and may pose a life-threatening disease for the newborns. Due to the public health and clinical importance of cHSV infection in infants, the recent data on this disease in Poland should be investigated. The aim of the study was to evaluate the incidence and other factors related to cHSV. Materials and method. The study is retrospective, population-based that utilised the hospital discharge records of cHSV patients. Data were obtained from National Institute of Public Health NIH -National Research Institute in Warsaw, Poland, covering the period 2014-2019.Results. The study group consisted of 1,573 cHSV newborns (841 males and 732 females). Among this group, 70.1% were infants up to 90 days of age and 3.6% were neonates up to 28 days of age. The mean and median age was 98 days (95% CI: 94.5-101.8, SD 74) and 70 days (IQR: 53-104), respectively. Based on the hospital registry the overall average cHSV incidence over the study period was estimated to be 69 per 100,000 live births. The number of cHSV infection fluctuated over the years 2014-2019 with a significant decreasing trend from 2015-2019 (P<0.01). A significantly higher cHSV incidence was observed among patients from urban than rural areas of Poland (88 vs 40/100,000 live births; P<0.001). Conclusions. CHSV incidence may be related to multifactorial conditions for the occurrence of this disease. Further studies on changes in the incidence of cHSV are needed.

Epidemiology of herpes simplex virus type 2 in Europe: systematic review, meta-analyses, and meta-regressions

“…Tens of studies have documented occurrence of neonatal herpes for over 4 decades in Europe in countries such as Denmark, 45 France, 43 Germany, 46 , 47 Ireland, 48 Israel, 49 , 50 , 51 the Netherlands, 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 Poland, 59 , 60 Russia, 61 Spain, 62 Sweden, 63 , 64 , 65 Switzerland, 66 Turkey, 67 and the United Kingdom (UK). 48 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 However, surveillance for this condition remains overall limited with no data being reported for the majority of countries in Europe.…”

“… 51 In Poland, it was reported during 2014–2019 at 69.0 cases per 100,000 live births. 59 Poland also reported an outbreak of neonatal herpes in a hospital setting that affected 11 new-borns. 60 In Sweden, it was reported during 1989–2000 at 7.1 cases per 100,000 live births.…”

“…44 By type of infection, incidence in Europe was estimated at 5.2 cases per 100,000 live births for HSV-1 and at 3.8 cases per 100,000 live births for HSV-2. 44 Tens of studies have documented occurrence of neonatal herpes for over 4 decades in Europe in countries such as Denmark, 45 France, 43 Germany, 46,47 Ireland, 48 Israel, [49][50][51] the Netherlands, [52][53][54][55][56][57][58] Poland, 59,60 Russia, 61 Spain, 62 Sweden, [63][64][65] Switzerland, 66 Turkey, 67 and the United Kingdom (UK). 48,[68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78] However, surveillance for this condition remains overall limited with no data being reported for the majority of countries in Europe.…”

Congenital herpes simplex with ophthalmic and multisystem features: a case report

“…In mothers with prolonged infection, it is likely that antibody transfer to the fetus will occur, acting as immunoprophylaxis [ 12 ]. Additionally, the risk of neonatal herpes is significantly higher in primary maternal infections near term, as there is no time for an effective immune response against the virus [ 4 ].…”

“…The estimated annual incidence is variable, ranging between 1.6 and 8.4 per 100,000 live births [ 3 ]. Both serotypes, HSV-1 and HSV-2, are related to neonatal infections, although the risk of mother-to-child transmission is considerably higher with HSV-1 [ 4 , 5 ].…”