Seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus type-2 among patients attending the Sexually Transmitted Infections Clinic in Jos, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Infection with Herpes Simplex Virus Type-2 (HSV-2) is the primary cause of genital herpes and the most common cause of genital ulcer disease (GUD) worldwide. There is little information on the prevalence of HSV-2 in Nigeria. Methodology: Specimens were collected from 162 volunteers attending Jos University Teaching Hospital and tested for HSV-2 antibodies using HSV-2 Type specific IgG EIA test kit (Globalemed LLC Alexandria VA, USA). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 13.0. P values ≤ 0.05 were considered significant. numbr Results: Out of the 162 individuals tested, 141 (87.0%) were HSV-2 positive. Infected individuals were more likely to be male than female (92.8% versus 86.4%; P > 0.05). There were high rates of infection in all age groups, and the prevalence increased with age. However, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that HSV-2 prevalence was not significantly associated with increasing age, sex, marital status, occupation, educational status, and number of sex partners (P > 0.05). Conclusions: The results highlight the potential public health impact of HSV-2 in Nigeria where anti-HSV-2 testing is not generally performed in all populations, especially considering the risk of neonatal transmission and the attendant complications at birth.

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

“…Previous studies similarly showed that, the prevalence of HSV-2 was significantly high in patients who were not using condoms during sexual intercourse (23.5%) (Rosenberg et al, 2015). Serological testing showed that patients who used condoms (85%) has a higher HSV-2 prevalence than those who were not using protection (80%) (Agabi et al, 2010). These results were similar to those of the present study in which patients who were using protection had a higher HSV-2 prevalence than those who were not using protection, although the difference was not significant.…”

“…For HSV-2 a prevalence of 9.4% was obtained in married patients while 11.5% was found in patients who were single. In a study conducted in Nigeria, 86.2% of HSV-2 was found in married patients and 89.1% in single patients (Agabi et al, 2010). In a study to determine the HSV-2 sero-positivity and relationship status among U.S. adults aged between 20 and 40, those who were un-partnered had higher HSV-2 prevalence than those who were married.…”

“…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).…”

Infectious diseases and autoimmunity

“…These include: Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV)-induced demyelinating disease (TMEV-IDD), a model of human multiple sclerosis in which intracerebral TMEV infection of mice leads to an autoimmune demyelinating disorder 30-40 days after infection [21]; herpes simplex virus (HSV)-associated stromal keratitis, in which HSV infection leads to blindness secondary to corneal-antigen-specific T-cell responses in both humans and mice [30][31][32][33]; cytotoxic reactions caused by antibodies against Streptococcus pyogenes antigens, which may be one mechanism to explain the origin of autoimmune heart disease in rheumatoid myocarditis [34]; infection of prediabetic mice with a virus expressing an H-2Kb-restricted mimic ligand to a self-epitope present on beta cells, which accelerates the development of autoimmune diabetes [35]; autoimmune demyelinating disease associated with Semliki Forest virus (SFV) [36]; autoimmune myocarditis associated with coxsackie virus infection [37]; and murine cytomegalovirus [38]. T cells with low affinity for a self-antigen and that have escaped thymus negative selection, as would be the case for many self-antigen-specific responses, can become activated by infection with a microrganism containing an identical antigen, which provides appropriate innate immune signals, resulting in overt autoimmune disease.…”

Herpes simplex virus 2 infection in HIV seropositive individuals in Tamil Nadu, India

“…[1][2][3] The hallmarks of HSV-2 infection are periodic symptomatic reactivation and asymptomatic viral shedding. Infection with HSV-2 is a lifelong condition; the virus becomes permanently latent in the nerve root ganglia corresponding to the site of inoculation (the trigeminal ganglia for orolabial infection and the sacral ganglia for genital infection).…”