Prevalence of Antibodies against Herpes Simplex Virus Types 1 and 2 in Children and Young People in an Urban Region in Tanzania

Abstract

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is transmitted by close contact, both sexual and nonsexual, and infections are acquired during childhood and adolescence. Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), however, is thought to be transmitted mainly by sexual contact. Most HSV-2 infections are consequently expected to occur after the onset of sexual activity. Recent reports indicate an increasing prevalence of HSV-2 on the African continent, but most studies have been performed on adult cohorts. In the present study, we collected sera from Tanzanian children and young persons from 1 to 20 years old, with at least 100 individuals in each age group. Antibodies against HSV-1 and HSV-2 were detected by an in-house Western blot method which was shown to perform well in comparison with a commercial Western blot assay. Type-specific antibodies were also analyzed by two noncommercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods based upon the antigenicities of branched synthetic oligopeptides corresponding to epitopes in glycoprotein G of HSV-1 or HSV-2. The prevalence of HSV-1 antibodies increased gradually from 73% for the age group of 1 to 4 years to 92% for the age group of 17 to 20 years. The prevalence of HSV-2 antibodies was unexpectedly high, as 15% of the children were infected by the age of 8 years, with the incidence increasing gradually to 40% in the age group of 17 to 20 years. The reason for this unexpectedly high frequency is not clear but could suggest that nonsexual transmission of HSV-2 is more common than previously thought. There was no statistically significant association between seropositivities for HSV-2 and human immunodeficiency virus.

Subclinical Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infections Provide Site-Specific Resistance to an Unrelated Pathogen

“…We hypothesized that the local memory response to acute herpes epithelial keratitis may be beneficial to the host in modulating subsequent infections or trauma. This hypothesis was intuited because of the co-evolution of HSV-1 and humanity [15], the ubiquitous nature of HSV-1 infections, and the lack of effective herd immunity [16, 17]. Our hypothesis does have some precedent, as chronic gamma herpes virus infections induce a systemic inflammation that provides intrinsic resistance to subsequent novel immunological challenges [18], and acute viral infections induce tissue-resident memory (Trm) CD8 + T cells that, when activated, provide intrinsic resistance to unrelated pathogens [19].…”

Diet-induced obesity prolongs neuroinflammation and recruits CCR2 + monocytes to the brain following herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1 latency in mice

“…The prevalence of HSV-1 infection continues to increase throughout life and by 49 years old (y.o. ), 65% of all US residents are seropositive (Kasubi et al, 2006). In a small study of postmortem TG samples, HSV-1 DNA was present in 60–85% samples of people 0–20 y.o.…”

Improved Performance of Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays and the Effect of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Coinfection on the Serologic Detection of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 in Rakai, Uganda

“…The false negatives could have been due to an early infection, in which case the University of Washington HSV-2-specific Western blot was more sensitive. The false positives might have been due to cross-reactivity with HSV-1, which is Ͼ90% prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa (9,16).…”