Seroprevalence of Herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 in Indian and Filipino migrant populations in Qatar: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Background: The epidemiology of herpes simplex virus infections is of growing interest but information on its seroprevalence in many countries is scarce. Aims: This study aimed to measure the seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2 in Filipino and Indian men living in Qatar. Methods: Blood serum specimens were collected from male blood donors aged ≥ 18 years in Qatar from 2013 to 2016. HerpeSelect® 1/2 and Euroline-WB assays were used to measure antibodies to herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 in 120 Filipino and 325 Indian men. Results: The seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus-1 was 84.9% (95% confidence interval (CI): 78.4-90.0%) in Filipino men and 48.3% (95% CI: 43.6-53.0%) in Indian men. The seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus-2 was 8.3% (95% CI: 4.6-13.7%) in Filipinos and 3.7% (95% CI: 2.2-5.9%) in Indians. The seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 increased with age, but this trend was only statistically significant in Indian men (P = 0.013 and P = 0.011 respectively). Conclusions: The seroprevalence rates of herpes simplex virus-2 in Filipino and Indian men living in Qatar were similar to those found in the Philippines and India. However, the seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus-1 in Indians, while similar to that found in India, was substantially lower than that of other countries in Asia and developing countries worldwide, which needs further investigation.

Seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2 among the migrant workers in Qatar

“…Remarkably, this study confirms an unexplained anomaly in global HSV-1 seroprevalence data [ 27 , 28 ], the low HSV-1 seroprevalence in Sri Lanka and India compared to what is expected for countries of similar socio-economic status [ 25 , 26 , 28 – 30 ]. HSV-1 seroprevalence among Sri Lankans and Indians was lowest of all nationalities, supporting the relatively low HSV-1 seroprevalence reported previously in this part of the world [ 25 , 34 , 35 ].…”

“…However, there was substantial variation in seroprevalence by nationality ranging from 58.8% among Sri Lankans to 96.3% among Egyptians. Seroprevalence in each nationality group was similar to the seroprevalence observed in the country of origin [ 25 – 27 ], but not to that of Qataris [ 28 ]. This may be explained by these workers arriving to Qatar only within the last decade and not being permanent residents of Qatar.…”