BACKGROUND Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and 2 (HSV-2) are common human pathogens and might cause severe illness. Following primary infection, the viruses establish lifelong latent infection and are transmitted by close contact, both sexual and nonsexual. However, the information about the seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 across all age groups is limited. METHODS Residual sera collecte...

BACKGROUND Daily suppressive therapy with valacyclovir reduces risk of sexual transmission of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) in HSV-2-serodiscordant heterosexual couples by 48%. Whether suppressive therapy reduces HSV-2 transmission from persons coinfected with HSV-2 and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is unknown. METHODS Within a randomized trial of daily acyclovir 400 mg tw...

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 and 2 are both known to cause mucosal and skin infections. HSV-1 is regarded as the main virus type in the orofacial region, whereas HSV-2 is mainly associated with genital infections. Recently, an increase in HSV-1 genital infections has been described in some countries. We investigated the proportion of HSV-1 and HSV-2 isolates from different mucocutaneous re...

A multitude of different polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) have been described for detection and typing of Herpes simplex virus (HSV). This paper compares two PCRs coupled to enzymatic restriction (PCR/RFLP) to detect and type HSV. A primers set was designed to amplify a HSV DNA fragment from UL30 and UL 15 genes. Typing was done by restriction of the UL30 and UL15 amplicons with Ava II and Hpa...

BACKGROUND HIV and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infections cause a substantial global disease burden and are epidemiologically correlated. Two previous systematic reviews of the association between HSV-2 and HIV found evidence that HSV-2 infection increases the risk of HIV acquisition, but these reviews are now more than a decade old. METHODS For this systematic review and meta-analysi...

During lytic herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections, the half-lives of host and viral mRNAs are regulated by the HSV virion host shutoff (Vhs) protein (UL41). The sequences of the UL41 polypeptides of HSV type 1 (HSV-1) strain KOS and HSV-2 strain 333 are 87% identical. In spite of this similarity, HSV-2 strains generally shut off the host more rapidly and completely than HSV-1 strains. To exami...

A new commercial glycoprotein G-based enzyme immunoassay (gG-EIA) was compared with Western blotting (WB) for detection of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) or HSV-2 type-specific antibodies in 193 serum samples. Sensitivity for HSV-1 was 95%; specificity was 96%. Sensitivity for HSV-2 was 98%; specificity was 97%. Twelve of 13 serum samples with equivocal gG-EIA results were serotyped by WB.

We report a case of HSV type 2 pneumonia in an HIV infected patient. The patient was empirically treated for severe Pneumocystis jiroveci community acquired pneumonia. Bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage was done, the cytology of which was negative for Pneumocystis jiroveci. All cultures were negative. HSV type 2 was isolated from BAL on culture. The patient died of pulmonary embolism. The...

During lytic herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections, the HSV virion host shutoff protein (UL41) accelerates the turnover of host and viral mRNAs. Although the UL41 polypeptides from HSV type 1 (HSV-1) strain KOS and HSV-2 strain 333 are 87% identical, HSV-2 strains generally shut off the host more rapidly and completely than HSV-1 strains. In a previous study, we identified three regions of the ...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is a common infection among HIV infected people. HSV type specific serologies permit the diagnosis of previously unrecognised HSV-2 infection. While substantial psychosocial morbidity has been associated with a clinical diagnosis of genital herpes, the burden associated with a serological diagnosis of HSV-2 is unclear. This study prospec...