Antenatal Seroprevalence of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV-2) in Canadian Women

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Abstract
Background Thisstudy sought to provide the first population estimates of herpes simplex type2 (HSV-2) seroprevalence inCanada. Goal Tomeasure the antenatal seroprevalence of HSV-2 antibodies in reproductive agewomen. StudyDesign An anonymous unlinked seroprevalence study usedstored sera collected from pregnant women in British Columbia during 1999.Randomized sampling within age strata selected a total of 1215 subjects, ages15 to 44 years. Serologic testing used the Gull Meridian Test. Overallprevalence was directly standardized to the 1999 Canadian femalepopulation. Results Theage-adjusted prevalence for HSV-2 was 17.3% (95% CI, 15.2–19.4).Prevalence ranged from 7.1% (ages, 15–19 years) to 28.1% (ages,40–44 years), with the largest increases after the age of 24years. Conclusions TheHSV-2 seroprevalence among pregnant women in British Columbia is similar tothat in the United States and other countries. Seroprevalence continues torise through the later reproductive years. This observation may relate tocontinued transmission, an age cohort effect, orboth.