Seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2 in Thuringia, Germany, 1999 to 2006

The prevalence of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type-specific IgG was determined in sera taken in 1999 to 2006 from 1,100 children aged 0–18 years, 800 blood donors and 200 pregnant women in Thuringia, Germany, using tests based on the HSV glycoproteins (g) gG. By the age of 10–12 years, HSV-1 IgG prevalence reached 57.3%, rising to 69.3% by the age of 16–18 years and to 78.0% by the age of 28–30 years. Between 2.7% and 4.7% of the children aged up to 15 years had HSV-2 antibodies, increasing to 7.3% at the age of 16–18 years and to 13.6% among adults. The prevalence of HSV-1 antibodies among girls was significantly lower than among boys and a significantly higher prevalence of HSV-2 IgG in women than in men was detected. The reduced incidence of HSV-1 infections during childhood, especially in girls, has to be followed up since a higher number of primary HSV-2 infections may result. Between 2.7% and 4.7% of all children tested seemed to acquire HSV-2 by intrauterine or neonatal infection. We also compared the use of gG-1 with gC-1: the agreement of 97.2% between the two ELISAs suggests that gG-1 and gC-1 can be considered equivalent antigenic targets.