Genital Herpes and Public Health: Addressing a Global Problem
Article Abstract:
Doctors should test patients for genital herpes at the same time they test for other sexually transmitted diseases. People with obvious genital ulcers should also be tested. Genital herpes is most often caused by herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2). About 22% of Americans have been exposed to HSV-2, making it one of the three most common sexually transmitted diseases in the US. Many people with HSV-2 infection have no symptoms or they may not recognize the symptoms.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 2000
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Transmission of genital herpes by donor insemination
Article Abstract:
There have been few reports of the isolation of the primary herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2, the virus which causes genital herpes) from semen, even in the semen of symptomatic men. As a consequence no attention has been given to testing semen which is used in therapeutic donor insemination (TDI) programs. The current study presents the case of an infection of a 37 year-old woman who underwent TDI. On the day following the artificial insemination, she noticed a fever and a malaise. Her temperature increased over the next day, and at pelvic examination four days later a yellowish vaginal discharge and some tenderness in the area surrounding her uterus was found. Over the next several days her pelvic pain worsened, and an inflammation of her cervix was also seen. A viral culture of her uterus was obtained on the eighth day and was positive for HSV-2. Her husband's blood and semen showed no infection. The donor's semen was cultured and found positive for HSV-2. Both the donor's semen and cervical cultures of the recipient were analyzed for distinctive DNA patterns by an advanced technique. The DNA fragments from the two samples showed identical patterns, proving that the donor and recipient were infected by the same strain of HSV-2 and that the recipient was most probably infected by the donor. Although the donor was asymptomatic, his only sexual partner during the previous year had a history of genital herpes. The case clearly indicates that serologic screening for genital herpes using new type-specific HSV serologic techniques should be carried out for all TDI donors and their sexual partners prior to his inclusion into a TDI program.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1989
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Recombinant Glycoprotein Vaccine for the Prevention of Genital HSV-2 Infection: Two Randomized Controlled Trials
Article Abstract:
A vaccine against herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) does not appear to be very effective in preventing the infection. HSV-2 is most often transmitted sexually and during childbirth. Researchers randomly assigned 2,268 people to receive a recombinant vaccine containing gB2 and gD2 HSV-2 surface glycoproteins or a placebo. Over 500 people had a sexual partner infected with HSV. The vaccine was only 9% effective in preventing HSV-2 infection, despite the fact that many people who received the vaccine developed high levels of antibodies against HSV-2.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1999
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