Seroprevalence and seroincidence of herpes simplex virus type 1 and herpes simplex virus type 2 infections in a cohort of adolescents in Italy.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to improve the knowledge on the epidemiology of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) in Italy.


OBJECTIVE
The goal of this study was to study the seroincidence and seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections among Italian adolescents.


METHODS
We conducted a retrospective longitudinal study among 345 Italian adolescents tested for anti-HSV-1 and anti-HSV-2 on samples collected at 11 and 17 years of age.


RESULTS
At 11 years of age, the HSV-1 prevalence was 51.6% and the HSV-2 prevalence was 2.6%; when 17 years old, these rates increased to 61.4% and 4.9%, respectively. The HSV-1 incidence was 1.6 per 100 person-years and was higher among females. The HSV-2 incidence was 0.4 per 100 person-years with no gender differences.


CONCLUSIONS
HSV-1 is apparently widespread among Italian adolescents, whereas HSV-2 is limited. These data are of paramount importance when considering that HSV-1 can cause genital herpes and that HSV-2 plays a role in HIV transmission.
Suligoi
Barbara
B
Reparto AIDS e MST, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161 Rome, Italy. suligoi@iss.it
Torri
Arianna
A
Grilli
Gualtiero
G
Tanzi
Elisabetta
E
Palú
Giorgio
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006558:Herpes Genitalis / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies