Prevalence And Correlates Of Herpes Simplex Virus Infections Among HIV/AIDS Patients In China

1. Prevalence and Correlates of Herpes Simplex Virus Infections among HIV/AIDS Patients in China[Objective] To determine the prevalence of herpes simplex virus (HSV) and its correlates among HIV/AIDS patients in four different areas in China(Yun-cheng city of Shanxi province,Tai-zhou city of Zhejiang province,Urumqi city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,Ying-jiang county of Yunnan province).[Methods] All HIV/AIDS patients in the four areas who were alive and traceable were included in this study. Participants were interviewed using standard questionnaires. Aliquots of serum samples were collected.CD4+ cell counts were able to be obtained for the majority of selected study subjects.HSV-1-and HSV-2-specific IgG antibodies were tested. All tests were performed according to the manufacturers'protocols.[Results] A total of 1112 HIV/AIDS patients were recruited(including 288 from Yun-cheng city,164 from Tai-zhou,360 from Urumqi, and 300 from Ying-jiang). The age group with the highest proportion of participants was 30 to 39 years.The ethnic proportions largely varied by region. In Yun-cheng, all of the sample was ethnic Han. In Tai-zhou most of the sample was ethnic Han. In Urumqi the majority of the sample was Uygur In Ying-jiang 44.3% was ethnic Han,37.3% was ethnic Dai. The entire study sample consisted of more males than females.Most of the total sample classified themselves as peasants. The majority of the total sample was married and most of the sample had finished only primary school or secondary school. The most frequent mode of transmission were through heterosexual transmission, through injection drug use and through plasma/blood donation or transfusion.23.4% of the sample had less than 200 CD4+ cells. Overall, the seroprevalence was 91.5% for HSV-1,34.1% for HSV-2. Univariate logistic regression analysis indicated that, for HSV-1 the prevalence was higher among subjects who were females, aged from 18-29, ethnic Uygur, unemployed, educated at secondary school, and who were heterosexual. Multivariate unconditional Logistic regression indicated that, females, ethnic Uygur were correlated with HSV-1 infection. Univariate logistic regression analysis indicated that, for HSV-2 the prevalence was higher among subjects who were females, aged from 18-29, and ethnic Uygur, unemployed, educated at college or higher levels, who were divorced or widowed,and who were heterosexual. Multivariate unconditional Logistic regression indicated that, Taizhou,Yingjiang,females, ethnic Uygur, who were divorced or widowed, who were plasma/blood donation or transfusion were correlated with HSV-2 infection.[Conclusion] A substantial proportion of HIV/AIDS patients in China were co-infected with HSV-1 and/or HSV-2. Differential considerations in designing public health and clinical care programs for both HIV and other co-infected pathogenic viruses should be taken into account.2. Age-specific Herpes Simplex Virus Prevalence among General Population in China.[Objective] To document age-and gender-specific seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus infections (HSV-1 and HSV-2) in a general Chinese population.[Methods] A cross-sectional survey was conducted among local residents aged 1-59 years in two randomly selected communities in Zhejiang province in eastern China. HSV-1 and HSV-2 seroprevalence was determined by type-specific antibody tests using an ELISA technique.[Results] A total of 2,190 residents were analyzed. HSV-1 seroprevalence was 89.6% overall,87.7% for males and 91.5% for females. HSV-1 seroprevalence was nearly 100% among those aged>40 years. Gender difference in HSV-1 seroprevalence was observed for all but only those aged<5 years. HSV-2 seroprevalence was 12.1% overall,10.0% for males and 14.1% for females. HSV-2 seroprevalence was 7.2% among those aged 15-19 years and peaked at 24.2% among those aged 45-49 years. Gender difference in HSV-2 seroprevalence was observed for all age groups. About 11.2% of study subjects were co-infected with both types of HSV.[Conclusions] HSV-1 was highly prevalent throughout all age groups among community residents in eastern China, whereas HSV-2 was prevalent among sexually active people.