Sociodemographic and Clinical Factors Associated with Seroprevalence of HSV2 Infection among Antenatal Clinic Attendees in Benin

Background: Knowledge of the Sociodemoraphic factors associated with HSV-2 seroprevalence and identification of the associated patient-recognizable clinical features will enable informed preventive public health interventions. There’s yet no documented data on the clinical and sociodemographic factors associated with HSV 2 Seroprevalence among pregnant women in Nigeria.
Objectives: To identify sociodemographic and clinical correlates of HSV-2 seroprevalence among pregnant women attending ante-natal clinics in Benin, Nigeria.
Study Location, Design and Duration: All the participants were prospectively recruited from the two major hospitals in Benin: University of Benin Teaching Hospital and Central Hospital, Benin. The cross-sectional study took place between November 2011 and June 2012.
Methodology: Participants were recruited on booking. Data on their sociodemographic profiles, clinical history and obstetric characteristics were obtained by the use of structured questionnaires and hospital case records. Their blood samples were also promptly collected on recruition. Each participant’s serum was analyzed for HSV-2 IgG antibodies by gG-based type-specific ELISA. Counselling and testing for HIV were also carried out. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 16.
Results: The average age of the 674 enrolled participants was 30.6±5.2 years and most of them were married and had complete secondary education. Seroprevalence of HSV-2 was 46.3%. Factors that was significantly associated with HSV-2 seropositivity included age, level of education, parity, HIV seropositivity and positive history of sexually transmitted infections. The HSV-2-infected were also significantly more likely to recall episodes of genital rashes (occurrence of rashes of any type in the external genitalia), vaginal discharge and urethral discharge.
Conclusion: Risk factors for HSV-2 infection among pregnant women could include increasing age, higher parity, education below secondary level, HIV-positive status, and positive history of sexually transmitted infections. History of genital rashes, vaginal discharge and urethral discharge syndromes were associated with HSV-2 infection.