Epidemiology of Genital Herpes in Pittsburgh: Serologic, Sexual, and Racial Correlates of Apparent and Inapparent Herpes Simplex Infections

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 162; no. 2; pp. 299 - 305
• Main Authors: Breinig, Mary Kay, Kingsley, Lawrence A., Armstrong, John A., Freeman, Donna J., Ho, Monto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago, IL The University of Chicago Press 01-08-1990; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; African Americans; Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Biological and medical sciences; Black people; Educational Status; Epidemiology; European Continental Ancestry Group; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genital herpes; Genitalia; Herpes Genitalis - epidemiology; Herpes Labialis - epidemiology; herpes simplex virus 2; Human herpesvirus 1; Human herpesvirus 2; Humans; Income; Infections; Major Articles; Microbiology; Multivariate Analysis; Pennsylvania - epidemiology; Prevalence; Prospective Studies; Regression Analysis; Seroepidemiologic studies; Sexual Behavior; Simplexvirus; Simplexvirus - immunology; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Virology; Pennsylvania; Infection; Human; Herpes; Epidemiology; Viral disease; Genital diseases
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/162.2.299

Women attending family planning clinics in western Pennsylvania were enrolled into a prospective epidemiologic study of herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection. Detection of antibodies to HSV-1 and HSV-2 was based on an immunodot assay using type-specific glycoproteins gG-1 and gG-2. Serologic and historical data at enrollment were analyzed for 4527 subjects; the seroprevalence of HSV-2 was 21.6%. By multivariate analysis, HSV-2 infection as determined by seroprevalence was significantly and independently associated with age, years of sexual activity, race, one or more episodes ofother genital infections, lower annual family income, and multiple sexual partners. The presence of antibody to HSV-l was associated with a lower frequency of antibody to HSV-2, suggesting that developed immunity to HSV-1 protected against HSV-2 infection. Of926 participants who had antibody to HSV-2, only 117 (12.6%) reported a history of genital herpes. Hence the vast majority ofHSV-2 infections were inapparent. Although seroprevalence of HSV-2 was higher among black (35.4%) than white (18.5%) women, black women appeared to have significantly less symptomatic genital herpes than white women (7.7% vs. 14.7%, P < .01).