Genital Herpes. An underestimated infection in Romania
V. I. Arama, R. Vladareanu, R. A. Mihailescu, C. N. Popescu, C. V. Tiliscan, A. A. Rafila, M. L. Radulescu, A. C. S. Cercel
Abstract: The present study aimed to assess the seroprevalence of herpes simplex type 2 (HSV-2) infections in a representative Romanian population sample and to evaluate clinical and epidemiological features of HSV-2 seropositive patients. Methods. The study was conducted between 2004 and 2007 on a total number of 1058 subjects (761 females, 297 males). Study population was divided in two groups, Group A consisting of 500 pregnant women and Group B consisting of 600 non-pregnant women and men. All the patients were
tested for glycoprotein G1 (gpG1)-HSV1-IgG and gpG1-HSV2-IgG antibodies, and randomly retested 7% of the serum sample. We conducted a cross sectional seroprevalence analysis for HSV-2 and a case-control
analysis (HSV-2-positive versus HSV-2-negative patients). The overall HSV-2 seroprevalence was 15.2%. Women had a statistically significant higher HSV-2 seroprevalence compared to men (17% versus 10.8%).
DOI:10.18643/gieu.2013.34