HSV-2 Prevalence 3 Times Higher With Versus Without HIV In USA
Prevalence of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) was 3 times higher in a US cohort of HIV-positive adults than in the general US population. HSV-2 risk was independently associated with female gender, black race, and older age.
The CDC estimates that 1 in 5 US women and 1 in 9 US men has genital HSV-2 infection. HSV-2, a sexually transmitted virus, can cause painful genital sores in adults and can be fatal in infants.
To assess prevalence of HSV-2 infection in a contemporary US cohort, researchers compared HSV-2 rates in members of the Study to Understand the Natural History of HIV and AIDS in the Era of Effective Therapy (SUN) (recruited in 2004-2006) and the general-population National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (recruited in 2003-2006).
The SUN Study is an ongoing observational cohort of 700 HIV-positive people in four US cities. Of the 660 cohort members with adequate HSV-2 data, 548 (83%) were 20 to 49 years old and median age was 39 years.
Three quarters of SUN participants (77%) were men, and 59% were non-Hispanic white. Median CD4 count in SUN participants stood at 470 cells/µL, and 74% had a viral load below 400 copies/mL.
HSV-2 prevalence was 59.7% (95% confidence interval 55.8 to 63.8) in the SUN group, 3 times higher than the 19.2% prevalence in the general-population cohort (95% confidence interval 17.5 to 21.1).
Multivariate statistical analysis identified six factors that independently raised the risk of HSV-2 infection: older age, female gender, black non-Hispanic race/ethnicity, current unemployment, high-risk anal human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, and longer duration since HIV diagnosis.
“Clinicians should be aware that increased risk for HSV-2 infection was distributed broadly among HIV-infected persons and not limited to those with high-risk sexual behaviors,” the researchers stress.
Source: Pragna Patel, Tim Bush, Kenneth H. Mayer, Sheila Desai, Keith Henry, Edgar Turner Overton, Lois Conley, John Hammer, John T. Brooks, the SUN Study Investigators. Prevalence and risk factors associated with herpes simplex virus-2 infection in a contemporary cohort of HIV-infected persons in the United States. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 2012; 39: 154-160
For the study abstract
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By Mark Mascolini