title: Prevalence of antibodies against herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 in children and young people in an urban region in Tanzania.
abstract: Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is transmitted by close contact, both sexual and nonsexual, and infections are acquired during childhood and adolescence. Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), however, is thought to be transmitted mainly by sexual contact. Most HSV-2 infections are consequently expected to occur after the onset of sexual activity. Recent reports indicate an increasing prevalence of HSV-2 on the African continent, but most studies have been performed on adult cohorts. In the present study, we collected sera from Tanzanian children and young persons from 1 to 20 years old, with at least 100 individuals in each age group. Antibodies against HSV-1 and HSV-2 were detected by an in-house Western blot method which was shown to perform well in comparison with a commercial Western blot assay. Type-specific antibodies were also analyzed by two noncommercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods based upon the antigenicities of branched synthetic oligopeptides corresponding to epitopes in glycoprotein G of HSV-1 or HSV-2. The prevalence of HSV-1 antibodies increased gradually from 73% for the age group of 1 to 4 years to 92% for the age group of 17 to 20 years. The prevalence of HSV-2 antibodies was unexpectedly high, as 15% of the children were infected by the age of 8 years, with the incidence increasing gradually to 40% in the age group of 17 to 20 years. The reason for this unexpectedly high frequency is not clear but could suggest that nonsexual transmission of HSV-2 is more common than previously thought. There was no statistically significant association between seropositivities for HSV-2 and human immunodeficiency virus.
authors.affiliation: Center for International Health, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Mabula Joseph
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kasubi
authors.forename: Arvid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nilsen
authors.forename: Howard S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Marsden
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bergström
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Langeland
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Haarr
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006678:HIV / Q000276:immunology; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral