title: No association between maternal recurrent genital herpes in pregnancy and higher risk for congenital abnormalities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the possible links between recurrent symptomatic genital herpes during pregnancy and risk for congenital abnormalities (CAs).
  
  
  METHODS
  The occurrence of prospectively and medically-recorded recurrent genital herpes during pregnancy in the mothers of cases with different congenital abnormalities and in the mothers of matched controls without CAs was compared in the population-based large data set of the Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance System of Congenital Abnormalities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 22,843 cases with CAs, 59 (0.26%) were born to mothers with recurrent symptomatic genital herpes, while of 38,151 control newborns without CAs, 86 (0.23%) were born to mothers with recurrent genital herpes during the study pregnancy (adjusted OR: 1.1, 95% CI: 0.8-1.6). Pregnant women with clinically recognised recurrent genital herpes in the first trimester of pregnancy are not linked with a higher risk for any CAs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recurrent genital herpes during pregnancy does not associate with a higher risk of CAs.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Semmelweis University, School of Medicine, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Nándor
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Acs
authors.forename: Ferenc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bánhidy
authors.forename: Erzsébet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Puhó
authors.forename: Andrew E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Czeizel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D006558:Herpes Genitalis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary / Q000453:epidemiology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors