Seroepidemiological study of herpes simplex virus type 2 in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in the city of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus type 2 HSV-2 is one of the commonest causes of genital ulceration worldwide, but the relative importance of infection appears to vary from place to place. In countries where co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and HSV-2 is common the significance of HSV-2 as a cause of ulceration has probably been underestimated (Cowan et al. 2003). The ulceration that occurs in immunocompromised individuals is frequently atypical, severe, and persistent (McGrath & Newman 1994, Suligoi et al. 2002 and may mimic ulceration caused by other organisms, such as syphilis and chancroid (Chen et al. 2000).There is increasing evidence that HSV-2 facilitates HIV transmission (Wasserheit 1992 unrecognized and most people who are infected shed virus at some time and are, therefore, potentially infectious. Therefore, seroepidemiological studies are critical to understanding the pattern and distribution of infection within populations (Cowan et al. 2003). Nonetheless, data on the prevalence of HSV-2 infection among HIV-positive individuals are scarce. Recently, commercially available type-specific serologic assays allowed more extensive study of the epidemiology of HSV-2 infections (Ashley et al. 1998, Cowan et al. 2003, Turner et al. 2003.The objectives of the current study were to determine the seroprevalence of HSV-2 and its association with age, sex as well as other demographic and behavioural factors among HIV-positive patients from a large general hospital in Niterói, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. PATIENTS AND METHODS Subjects -The study was conducted in the Hospital Universitario Antonio Pedro, Federal Fluminense University, a large tertiary public hospital located in Niterói, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Niterói has around 474,000 inhabitants and the hospital provides health care to neighboring municipalities and to a lesser extent to populations from other parts of the state. results and offered treatment, if necessary. Blood samples were assigned a numerical code to conceal the identity of the study subjects. The patients were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire that included information on demographic variables (gender, age, level of education, residence), behaviour practices (number of lifetime sex partners, age of first sexual intercourse), and past history of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and genital herpes. Serum samples were collected from each participant and linked to the questionnaire by the aforementioned numerical code.Serological tests -Sera were screened for HVS-2 immunoglobulin G antibodies using an indirect HSV-2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (HerpesSelect, Focus Technologies, Cypress, CA, US), which has an estimated sensitivity of 98% and an estimated specificity of 97% (Ashley et al. 1998). The test uses recombinant HSV-2 gG2 antigen to identify HSV-2 antibodies, and was run according to the manufacturer's specifications, with control sera in the same test plate. Results were reported accord...

Seroepidemiological study of Herpes simplex virus 2 in human immuno deficiency virus-positive individuals attending a tertiary care hospital of South India

“…History of genital herpes was reported in only 27.33% of HIV-positive individuals indicating that only a low proportion of individuals were aware of HSV-2 infections. These findings were in accordance with findings of Santos FC et al, Russel et al and Van benthem et al [27][28][29] Prompt diagnosis of HSV-2 infection in HIV individuals leads to patients early management, possible initiation of antiretro viral treatment leading to reduced shedding of HSV and HIV in genital secretions. 30 Our study supports the findings of Cowan et al that HSV-2 facilitates HIV transmission and strong measures are required for implementation of HSV control measures and development of vaccines against HSV.…”

Prevalence of HSV1 and HSV2 among HIV Patients in Northern South Africa as Determined by Real Time PCR in Urine Samples

“…Agabi et al (2010) found an HSV-2 seroprevalence of 92.8% among males and 86.4% among females who were attending sexually transmitted infections clinic in Jos, Nigeria where an HSV-2 type specific IgG EIA test kit was used. In a study conducted in Brazil, the sero-prevalence of HSV-2 was found to be higher in males (53%) than females (50.7%) (Santos et al, 2006). In the present study, similar results were found showing similar prevalence of HSV-2 of 10.6% in males and 10.8% in females using real time PCR.…”

Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Encoding 15-Prostaglandin Dehydrogenase Mitigates Immune Suppression and Reduces Ectopic Primary and Metastatic Breast Cancer in Mice

“…(iii) vhs has been reported to suppress production of cytokines and chemokines and inactivate dendritic cells (7,59). In agreement with these reports, deletion of the vhs gene prevented HSV-1-mediated inactivation of antigen presentation by dendritic cells (DC) (54) and improved the immunogenicity of a candidate replication-defective HSV-1 vaccine strain (16,55). Furthermore, deletion of the vhs gene causes substantial reduction in neurovirulence (48,60,64).…”