No association between maternal recurrent genital herpes in pregnancy and higher risk for congenital abnormalities.
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.
Acs
Nándor
N
Second Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Semmelweis University, School of Medicine, Budapest, Hungary.
Bánhidy
Ferenc
F
Puhó
Erzsébet
E
Czeizel
Andrew E
AE
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