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. 2018 Jul;45(7):482-487.
doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000000791.

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Seroprevalence Among Different National Populations of Middle East and North African Men

Soha R Dargham, Gheyath K Nasrallah, Enas S Al-Absi  1 , Layla I Mohammed  1 , Rana S Al-Disi  2 , Mariam Y Nofal  2 , Laith J Abu-Raddad
Affiliations

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Seroprevalence Among Different National Populations of Middle East and North African Men

Soha R Dargham et al. Sex Transm Dis. 2018 Jul.

Abstract

Background: There are limited data on herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) seroprevalence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). We examined country- and age-specific HSV-2 seroprevalence among select MENA populations residing in Qatar.

Methods: Sera were collected from male blood donors attending Hamad Medical Corporation between June 2013 and June 2016. Specimens were screened for anti-HSV-2 IgG antibodies following a 2-test algorithm: HerpeSelect 2 ELISA was used to identify HSV-2-positive specimens, and Euroline-WB was used to confirm positive and equivocal specimens for final HSV-2 status. Trends and associations with HSV-2 seropositivity were assessed.

Results: Of the 2077 tested sera, 61 were found and confirmed positive. The proportion of those confirmed positive increased steadily with HerpeSelect 2 ELISA index value, ranging from 16.3% for index values of 1.101 to 1.999 to 92.9% for index values of 4 or greater. Nationality-specific seroprevalence was 6.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.1%-8.8%) in Qataris, 5.3% (95% CI, 2.5%-11.1%) in Iranians, 4.2% (95% CI, 1.8%-9.5%) in Lebanese, 3.1% (95% CI, 1.2%-7.7%) in Sudanese, 3.0% (95% CI, 1.4%-6.4%) in Palestinians, 2.2% (95% CI, 1.1%-4.3%) in Egyptians, 2.0% (95% CI, 1.0%-5.0%) in Syrians, 1.0% (95% CI, 0.3%-3.6%) in Jordanians, 0.7% (95% CI, 0.1%-3.7%) in Yemenis, and 0.5% (95% CI, 0.1%-2.8%) in Pakistanis. There was evidence for higher seroprevalence in older age groups.

Conclusions: The seroprevalence of HSV-2 was in the range of few percentage points. There were no major differences in seroprevalence by nationality. These findings add to our understanding of HSV-2 epidemiology in MENA and indicate unmet needs for sexual health and control of sexually transmitted infections.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest and Sources of Funding: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of the serological testing for anti-HSV-2 IgG antibodies in its 2 stages of screening and confirmation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Proportion of HSV-2 HerpeSelect 2 ELISA positive results confirmed positive by the Euroline-WB assay, by optical density index value.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Estimates of HSV-2 nationality-specific (A) and age-specific (B) seroprevalence among male blood donors currently residing in Qatar, but from different MENA countries.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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