title: Herpes simplex virus: prevalence in placental tissue and incidence in neonatal cord blood samples.
abstract: Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases worldwide, with HSV-2 being primarily associated with genital infections. HSV-2 is believed to account for the majority of cases of neonatal herpes, which may cause diverse of complications in infected newborns. The present study sought to estimate the prevalence of HSV-2 in placental tissue samples and the incidence of HSV-2 in the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants. Placental tissue samples from 201 women (maternal-side and fetal-side = 402 specimens) and 184 neonatal cord blood samples, all collected at the obstetric ward of a University hospital were studied. HSV-2 was detected by means of nested PCR. The prevalence of HSV-2 in placental samples was 9.0% (n = 18), and the incidence of neonatal HSV-2 infection was 1.1% (n = 2). All HSV-2-positive patients were asymptomatic at the time of delivery and none reported genital herpes. Women with a time between rupture of membranes and delivery of ≥360 min had an approximately fourfold risk of HSV-2 infection in the placental tissue (95% CI 0.93-5.66, P = 0.01). These results suggest that HSV-2 is present in the placenta of asymptomatic women and that a risk of transmission to the neonate exists. New strategies must be implemented for the management of asymptomatic patients who are capable of transmitting the virus to the newborn.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fabiana
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Finger-Jardim
authors.forename: Lisiane Ortiz
authors.initials: LO
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Gisele Rodrigues
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Maria Fernanda Martínez
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Barral
authors.forename: Vanusa Pousada
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: da Hora
authors.forename: Carla Vitola
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: Marcelo Alves
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Ana Maria Barral
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: de Martinez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D058070:Asymptomatic Diseases; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000821:virology*; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010920:Placenta / Q000821:virology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: HSV-2; neonatal herpes; placenta; polymerase chain reaction (PCR)