Seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus type 1 among people living with HIV in Mbeya, Tanzania

Seroprevalence of antibodies to herpes simplex virus 1 and 2 in patients with HIV positive from Ebonyi State, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

To assess the seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 and 2 in patients infected with HIV in Nigeria.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional design from January to June 2019.

SETTING

Federal Teaching Hospital, Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 276 patients with HIV were analysed using ELISA method for the presence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 specific IgG antibodies.

OUTCOMES

Fisher's exact test was used to determine the association between the seroprevalence of HSV and demographic variables (statistically significant=p value ≤0.05).

RESULTS

Totally, 212 (76.8%) and 155 (56.2%) patients with HIV were seropositive for HSV-1 and HSV-2 IgG antibodies, respectively. The seroprevalence of HSV-1 was significantly higher than the HSV-2 in patients with HIV (p value <0.0001). HSV-1 and HSV-2 seroprevalence were higher in patients aged more than 30 years. The seroprevalence of HSV-1 was significantly higher (p=0.01) in females (82.4%, 131/159) than males (69.2%, 81/117), but there was no significant difference in seroprevalence of HSV-2 in females (57.9%, 92/159) compared with males (53.8%, 63/117) (p=0.51). Professional drivers had a higher seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 and there was a significant association between the occupation and the HSV-1 and HSV-2 seropositivity (p>0.05). The seroprevalence of HSV-1 was significantly higher in the singles (87.4%, 90/103) than the married patients with HIV (p=0.001). However, HSV-2 seroprevalence was significantly higher in the married patients with HIV (63.6%, 110/173) (p=0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Prevalence of 76.8% for HSV-1 and 56.2% for HSV-2 among patients with HIV was seen. The HSV-1 was significantly higher in the singles while HSV-2 seroprevalence was significantly higher in the married patients with HIV with HSV-1 and HSV-2 coinfection rate of 7.6%. This study became very imperative to provide an important insight into the hidden dynamics of HSV infections.

Laboratory investigations of herpes simplex virus-1 and -2 clinical samples in Korea

Objectives

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections have been reported in 60% to 95% of the adult population worldwide, making them one of the most common infectious conditions globally. HSV-1 and HSV-2 cause severe disease in immunocompromised patients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide information that could be used to reduce the incidence of genital herpes caused by HSV-1 and HSV-2.

Methods

From September 2018 to December 2020, 59,381 specimens were collected from outpatients across primary and secondary hospitals in Korea who requested U2Bio (Korea) to conduct molecular biological testing of their samples for sexually transmitted infections. In this study, the positivity rates of HSV-1 and HSV-2 were analyzed according to age, sex, and specimen type.

Results

In the age-specific analysis of HSV-1, the highest positivity rate (0.58%) was observed in patients under 19 years of age, whereas the lowest positivity rate (0.08%) was observed in patients aged over 70 years. In the age-specific analysis of HSV-2, the highest positivity rate (2.53%) was likewise observed in patients under 19 years of age.

Conclusion

Our study identified differences in the infection rates of HSV-1 and HSV-2 depending on patients’ sex and age. These differences will be useful for improving disease prevention and control measures for HSV-1 and HSV-2.