Herpes Virus Type 2 Infection and Genital Symptoms in Primary Care Patients

Objective: We aimed to identify whether genital symptoms were associated with unrecognized herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection in a primary care population. Study Design: Five thousand four hundred fifty-two individuals aged 18 to 59 seeking general care at 36 suburban medical offices in 6...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Sexually transmitted diseases Vol. 33; no. 7; pp. 416 - 421
Main Authors:	FLEMING, DOUGLAS T., LEONE, PETER, ESPOSITO, DOMINICK, HEITMAN, CATHY K., JUSTUS, SCOTT, CHIN, STEPHANIE, FIFE, KENNETH H.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 01-07-2006 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ovid Technologies
Subjects:	Adolescent Adult Antibodies, Viral - blood Female Herpes Genitalis - diagnosis Herpes Genitalis - epidemiology Herpes Genitalis - etiology Herpes Genitalis - pathology Herpes viruses Herpesvirus 2, Human - immunology Humans Male Medical diagnosis Middle Aged Monoclonal antibodies North Carolina - epidemiology Prevalence Primary Health Care - statistics & numerical data Suburban Health - statistics & numerical data Surveys and Questionnaires North Carolina
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Summary:	Objective: We aimed to identify whether genital symptoms were associated with unrecognized herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection in a primary care population. Study Design: Five thousand four hundred fifty-two individuals aged 18 to 59 seeking general care at 36 suburban medical offices in 6 U.S. cities were tested for HSV-2 antibody and asked about 10 types of genital symptoms. In patients with no known history of genital herpes, we assessed whether HSV-2 infection was independently associated with symptoms. Results: HSV-2 infection was associated with increases in reports of "sores, blisters, ulcers, crusts, or small cuts/slits" in men [adjusted odds ratio (OR), 1.79; 95% CI, 1.24-2.58] and with increases in reports of "redness, irritation, or a rash" among women (adjusted OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.06-2.11). HSV-2 was not significantly associated with other types of genital symptoms. Conclusions: Primary-care physicians should consider unrecognized HSV-2 infection as a potential cause of some common genital symptoms.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0148-5717 1537-4521
DOI:	10.1097/01.olq.0000200578.86276.0b