Is sexual transmission an important pattern for herpes simplex type 2 virus seroconversion in the Spanish general population?

Herpes simplex type 2 (HSV-2) seroprevalence within a community is determin ed by sexual and perinatal transmission from mother to baby, the two main s ources of virus shedding. A seroepidemiological study of HSV-2 was undertak en on a representative sample (n = 3974) of the Spanish population to asses s indirectly the relative relevance of these two transmisssion routes. The sample comprised 1922 men and 2052 women in the age range 5-59 years, strat ified by sex and age (5-12, 13-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, and 50-59 years). S era were screened for HSV-2 specific Ig G antibodies by an enzyme-linked im munoabsorbent assay based on recombinant glycoprotein G2 (gG2). The overall prevalence of antibodies to HSV-2 was 3.6% (95% CI: 3.1-4.2%). Prevalence by gender did not differ: males (3.6%; 95% Cl: 2.8-4.6%) and females (3.6%; 95% Cl: 2.8-4.5%). There were no significant differences between age group s with respect to seropositivity rates. Detection of HSV-2 antibodies was n ot associated with increasing age, as is expected for a sexually transmitte d disease. The fact that seroprevalence rates among the different age group s did not differ suggests that the virus is not circulating in the general population and may be restricted to risk groups only. Similar positivity ra tes found in the group of females of childbearing age and in the youngest p opulation indicate that perinatal viral shedding is the main source of HSV- 2 seroconversion in the Spanish population. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.