title: Prevalence of herpes simplex virus antibodies in childhood and adolescence: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: The changing spectrum of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infections makes it important to define the seroepidemiology of HSV. The object of this study was to determine the prevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 immunoglobulin G antibodies in a young Swedish population by investigating 2106 serum samples from people aged 0-19 y. Sera were tested in HSV type-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using glycoprotein G-1 (gG-1) and glycoprotein G-2 (gG-2) as antigens. The overall seroprevalence was 31% (95% CI 29-33) for HSV-1 and 0.5% (95% CI 0.2-0.9) for HSV-2. The HSV-1 seroprevalence was higher with increasing age, and significantly higher in the age cohort 15-19 y compared with 1-4-y-olds (37% vs 24%). The HSV-1 infection seemed to be acquired early in life. In the age cohort 1-2 y, the prevalence was over 20%, presumably reflecting an established viral infection. In adolescence the HSV-1 seroprevalence may reflect both oral and sexual transmission. The seroprevalence in the oldest age cohort did not differ significantly from that seen in a Swedish study in which sera were sampled from young girls in the 1970s.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011336:Probability; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012698:Serologic Tests; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral