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Seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 in pregnant women in the United States.
Am J Obstet Gynecol 2007: 196(1):43.e1-6.
Xu F, Markowitz LE, Gottlieb SL, Berman SM.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine seroprevalence of herpes
simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) in a national cross-sectional
sample of pregnant women. STUDY DESIGN: Pregnancy tests (urine and serum)
were performed for female patients 12-59 years of age who participated in
the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999-2002. Immunodot
assays were used to detect antibodies to HSV-1 and HSV-2. RESULTS: The mean
age of the 626 pregnant women was 27 years, and the median number of lifetime
sex partners was 4. Overall, HSV-1 seroprevalence was 63%; HSV-2 seroprevalence
was 22%; infection with both HSV-1 and HSV-2 was 13%, and HSV seronegativity
was 28%. HSV seroprevalence differed by race/ethnicity, with nonHispanic white
patients more likely to be seronegative compared with other racial/ethnic
groups (40% vs 11%; P < .001). The number of lifetime sex partners was
also associated with serostatus. On the basis of serostatus-specific rates
of neonatal herpes from a published study, the rate of neonatal herpes is
projected to be 33/100,000 live births and is 40% higher in nonHispanic white
women than in other racial/ethnic groups. CONCLUSION: The seroprevalence of
HSV-1 and HSV-2 varied by race/ethnicity; babies born to nonHispanic white
mothers, whose HSV seroprevalence was the lowest, appear to be at greater
risk for neonatal herpes.