Seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 infection in the general French population

Abstract

Background: In spite of the large prevalence and growing incidence of herpes simplex infection (HSV-1 and HSV-2), relatively few large serological surveys are available worldwide and it is still difficult compare frequencies of HSV contaminations in various countries. We present the results of HERPIMAX, the first epidemiological inquiry on HSV prevalence in the general French population. Methods: Of a cohort of 12 735 presumed healthy adult volunteers included in the prospective study SU.VI.MAX, designed to assess the relation between nutritional supplementations and degenerative diseases, HERPIMAX randomly selected 4412 subjects (females 66.5%, males 33.5%). All serum samples were assessed for HSV-1 and HSV-2 IgG antibodies with a HSV type specific, enzyme immunosorbent assay (EIA). Equivocal result were retested with another HSV type specific immunoblot assay combined with a type common HSV IgG EIA in order to give a definitive interpretation. Results: The mean seroprevalence was 67% for HSV-1 and 17.2% for HSV-2. For HSV-2 the seroprevalence was higher in females (17.9%) compared with males (13.7%) (p <0.001). For both HSV types, there was no significant difference in prevalence as regards age distribution in males and females, whereas prevalence increased significantly with age in females for HSV-1. Univariate analysis showed a significant association between HSV-1 prevalence and education level in males and females (p <0.001) and between HSV-2 prevalence and marital status in both sexes (p <0.001). There were geographical disparities, with a higher HSV-2 prevalence in the south of France as well as in Paris. Conclusion: These results confirm a high prevalence of HSV infection in France. They are also in agreement with previous results of other survey carried out in other developed countries as regards higher prevalence of HSV-2 infection in women, the stability of seroprevalence for both HSV types after 35 years of age in females and 45 years of age in males. H erpes simplex virus (HSV) infections are quite common throughout the world. 1 Apart from the morbidity due to symptomatic episodes, HSV infections may have severe consequences in immunosuppressed hosts or neonates. 2 Furthermore, genital ulcer disease due to HSV is a risk factor for sexual acquisition and transmission of HIV infection. 3 Assessing the extent of HSV infections is notoriously difficult for a variety of reasons: in most countries, they are not notified diseases, the majority of infected subjects are asymptomatic 4 or unaware of their infection. However, since the 1980s, serological methods have made it possible to study the epidemiology of HSV infection and recent improvements in available tests allow discrimination between HSV-1 and HSV-2.Here, we report the results of the HERPIMAX survey, which was the first epidemiological assessment of HSV prevalence carried out in France in the general population. METHODS Study populationThe survey population was a random sample of the SU.VI.MAX programme, which was primarily a French prospective, ...

Seropositivity and determinants of immunoglobulin-G (IgG) antibodies against Herpes simplex virus (HSV) types -1 and -2 in pregnant women in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

“…This agrees with Malkin et al 27 who found a higher HSV-1 infection in people of lower education level in France. Rezaei-Chaparpordi et al 25 also observed an increase in prevalence of HSV antibodies with a decrease in level of education.…”

“…This suggests that these groups of females were at a greater danger of acquiring HSV 27 for instance, HSV gotten in the course of pregnancy is connected with spontaneous abortion 27 which occur highest in first trimesters, and risk of neonatal transmission with highest risk occurring at third trimester. The study also showed a seronegativity of 0.6% among the pregnant women tested and is therefore at high risk and vulnerable to suffering a primary genital herpes.…”

High Seroprevalence of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Infection in French Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Infected Outpatients

“…HSV-2 antibody prevalence has been reported to be 17% in the French general adult population (4) and to range from 4 to 24% in other, similar, European populations (5, 8). Our HSV-2 antibody prevalence appeared to be statistically significantly higher than that previously reported by Malkin et al (4) in the French general population (17.2% of 12,735 subjects), even after the values were adjusted according to age or gender (P Ͻ 0.001). Taken together, our findings showed high rates of HSV-2 antibody prevalence in two cohorts of French HIV-1-infected outpatients, suggesting that HSV-2 infection may be markedly associated with HIV-1 infection in France.…”

A Seroprevalence Survey of Common Viral Infections Among Suspected Cases Attending Tertiary Care Hospital in Amritsar District of Punjab, India

“…[42] Adolescents are known to be at increased risk of acquiring HSV infections because of fewer protective antibodies (Agarwal and Gupta, 2000). [43] Similar results are reported by another study (Malkin et al 2002). [44] The presence of the rubella IgM antibodies was found in 1 (out of 2 suspected cases) female in the age group of 21 -40 years.…”