Revisiting Old Foes: Updates on HSV - Contagionlive.com
Herpes simplex viruses (HSV) cause chronic viral infections, and the seroprevalence ranges from 15% to 100%. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 3.7 billion people under the age of 50 years had HSV-1 infection, and genital herpes caused by HSV-2 affected an estimated 491 million people aged 15 to 49 years worldwide in 2016. 1 The seroprevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 were 47.8% and 11.9%, respectively, among individuals aged 14 to 49 years in the United States. 2 Substantial racial and ethnic disparities in HSV-2 infection exist. The cumulative lifetime incidence of HSV-2 reaches 25% in White women, 20% in White men, 80% in Black women, and 60% in Black men. 3 PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND TRANSMISSION Herpes viruses possess an internal core containing double-stranded DNA surrounded by tegument and a lipid envelope. Both HSV-1 and HSV-2 are shed on mucosal surfaces or in oral or genital secretions and transmitted through inoculation of the virus onto mucosal surfaces or abraded skin.