Australian Herpes Management Forum

Research Update: HSV type-1 as a cause of anogenital herpes: Increase in rates in western Sydney

*

May 2006

What's known?

Anogenital infection with herpes simplex viruses types 1 and 2 is one of the commonest sexually transmitted disease in the world and is responsible for serious physical and psychological consequences.

Evidence from United States and Europe suggests that HSV-1 is increasingly associated with genital infection.

There are few studies of trends of relative proportions of HSV types 1 and 2 infection in Australia.

What’s New?

The study was conducted on all the samples received at Department of Virology, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research (ICPMR), Westmead Hospital.

Specimens came from general practice centres, sexual health clinics and hospitals in New South Wales.

The proportion of anogenital HSV isolates that were type 1 rose between 1979 and 2003, from less than 10% in early 1980s to around 35% in late 1990s and early 2000s.

Younger age and female sex were associated with greater proportion of anogenital HSV isolates being type 1

The proportion of HSV isolates found to be type 1 has risen more steeply from patients aged 25 years and under since 1989.

This study provides laboratory evidence for increasing proportions of anogenital herpes caused by HSV-1 in NSW, Australia between 1979 and 2003.

Reference

L J Haddow, B Dave, A Mindel, K A McPhie, C Chung, C Marks, D E Dwyer. Increase in rates of herpes simplex virus type 1 as a cause of anogenital herpes in western Sydney, Australia, between 1979 and 2003. Sex Transm Infect.2006; 82:255-259

Link

An abstract of the paper is available at http://sti.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/82/3/255.

á Top of page