A 10-year molecular survey of herpes simplex virus type 1 in Germany demonstrates a stable and high prevalence of genotypes A and B.
BACKGROUND
Recently three different herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) genotypes (A, B and C) were described on DNA sequence data of the glycoprotein E (gE), G (gG) and I (gI) genes.


OBJECTIVE
To type the circulating HSV-1 wild-type strains in Germany and to monitor potential changes in the molecular epidemiology over the past 10 years.


METHODS
A total of 569 clinical HSV-1 isolates from a 10-year survey in Germany were genotyped by a PCR-based restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of gG and gI. Recombination analysis of the gE gene sequences was performed to reveal intragenic recombinants.


RESULTS
Genotypes A and B strains represented 76% of all strains analyzed and showed a stable distribution within all age groups investigated, independently from the gender. Intergenic gG/gI and intragenic gE recombinants were demonstrated to be less prevalent. Interestingly, for one HIV infected patient a gG/gI genotype switch from A/A to C/A was observed within 3 years.


CONCLUSIONS
The first molecular survey of clinical HSV-1 isolates from Germany demonstrated a stable distribution of two different genotypes and recombinants within age groups and over a period of 10 years. Moreover, homologous recombination seems to be an important feature in the evolution of the HSV-1 genome.
Schmidt-Chanasit
Jonas
J
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Department of Virology, Hamburg, Germany. jonassi@gmx.de
Bialonski
Alexandra
A
Heinemann
Patrick
P
Ulrich
Rainer G
RG
Günther
Stephan
S
Rabenau
Holger F
HF
Doerr
Hans Wilhelm
HW
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D015995:Prevalence; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D055815:Young Adult
D004279:DNA, Viral; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C064959:glycoprotein I, herpes simplex virus type 1; C050591:glycoprotein gG-1, herpes simplex virus type 1