Seroprevalence and risk factors of herpes simplex virus-2 among pregnant women attending antenatal care at health facilities in Wolaita zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

BackgroundHerpes simplex virus type-2 is the common cause of genital ulcer disease worldwide. Genital herpes infection is a major concern in pregnancy due to the risk of neonatal transmission.MethodA Cross-sectional survey was conducted from December 2013 to September 2014 in randomly selected 28 health centers to assess the seroprevalence and risk factors of herpes simplex virus type-2 infection among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Wolaita zone, Southern Ethiopia. After taking written consent socio demographic, behavioral, obstetric history and family planning data along with blood samples were collected from 252 pregnant women using pre-structured questionnaire. Sera were tested using HerpeSelect-2 ELISA IgG. Data entry and analysis was done using Epi info 3.5.4 and SPSS 21.00 respectively. Binary logistic regression was performed to identify the risk factors associated with HSV-2 seropositivity. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.ResultsThe overall seroprevalence of HSV-2 infection was 32.1 % (81/252) among pregnant women in Wolaita zone. Independent predictors of HSV-2 infection includes daily laborer (AOR 1.293, 95 % CI: 1.033–1.739; p = 0.022), having one sexual partners (AOR 0.476, 95 % CI: 0 .250 –0.904; p = 0.023), history of STDs (AOR 2.822, 95 % CI: 1.50–5.289; p = 0.001) and use of contraceptive (AOR 2.602, 95 % CI: 1.407–4.812; p = 0.002).ConclusionOverall seroprevalence of HSV-2 infection among pregnant women of Wolaita Zone is high. Awareness creation among high risk groups like women who have history of STD should be strengthened. Strengthening the quality of health service delivery and expansion of health service coverage is mandatory.

Sexual behavioural correlates of herpes simplex virus type 2 infections among pregnant women in South-western Nigeria

“…This is in agreement with other studies, which show that HSV-2 sero-positivity is associated with a greater number of lifetime sexual partners and multiple sexual partners within six months to the time of the study. 3,7,12,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] In the present study, women with more than one lifetime sexual partners were 2.4 times more likely to have HSV-2 infection than those with one lifetime sexual partner. This is similar to some other studies which observed that women with more than one lifetime sexual partners were twice as likely to have HSV-2 antibodies, than those with one partner.…”

Etiology of Genital Ulcerative Disease in Conjunction with HIV Infection among Patients Attending the STD Clinic at a Tertiary Care Hospital

“…Only few studies are available which assess the connection of employment status of an individual with GUD. In a study from Ethiopia, in the women attending ANC were found to have history of HSV-2 positivity of which interestingly 17.5% were house wives, 7.1% were shopkeepers, 4% were government employees and only 3.6% were labourers (Anjulo et al, 2016). A study made on truck drivers of Kenya reported the incidence of GUD at a rate of 7.6% and HIV at a rate of 3% (Lavreys et al, 1999).…”

“…HSV infection does not appear to be associated with an increased risk for spontaneous abortion (Aga and Hollier, 2009). In the present study, HSV-2 was high among pregnant women whose age were greater than or equal to 18 years at first pregnancy, mother having "no birth-2" children, gestational weeks between 20 and 28 weeks, women who had no history of abortion and used contraceptive which accounts 54(66.6%), 38(46.9%), 44(54.3%), 71(87.6%) and 59(72.8 %) respectively (Anjulo et al, 2016).…”

Vertikale Übertragung des Herpes‐simplex‐Virus: eine Aktualisierung

“…Während in Nigeria 99,4 % [4] der Schwangeren seropositiv für IgG‐Antikörper gegen HSV‐1 und HSV‐2 waren, lag die Seroprävalenz für HSV‐2 in Südafrika bei 58,7 % . Äthiopien hat mit 32,1 % die niedrigste Quote der afrikanischen Länder . Ähnlich wie in Äthiopien betrug die gewichtete Gesamtprävalenz von HSV‐2 in Haiti 31,4 %, während HSV‐2 laut Kim et al.…”