A study of the acquisition of herpes simplex virus (HSV) in
pregnancy and its effects on the newly born involved 8,538
women. All were tested for the presence of antibodies
against HSV-1 And HSV-2, and serum samples obtained for
routine prenatal tests at 14 to 18 weeks and at 24 to 28
weeks were saved and tested to pinpoint the time of
seroconversion. Of the women, 24% were HSV negative at the
onset of prenatal care; 48% were seropositive for HSV-1, 11%
for HSV-2, and 17% for both. Ninety-four women, or 2.1% of
all susceptible women, converted to herpes positive during
pregnancy. Of these, 64% had subclinical infections. All 26
women with clinical symptoms of HSV-2 infection and 6 of 8
with symptomatic HSV-1 infection had genital lesions. About
the same ratio of serum negative women and women who
initially had antibodies only against HSV-1 converted to
seropositive for HSV-2; however, no woman who was
seropositive for HSV-2 converted to positive for HSV-1,
suggesting that the former confers immunity against the
latter. Younger age, not being married, and occurrence of
other sexually transmitted diseases were associated with
seroconversion. The only babies in the study who contracted
neonatal herpes were born to women who acquired genital
herpes near the onset of labor and who had not yet developed
antibodies. No baby of the 94 women who seroconverted during
pregnancy developed herpes; neither was an increased risk of
preterm labor, intrauterine growth retardation, or
spontaneous abortion found. -New England Journal of
Medicine, 1997, Vol. 337 No. 8
Reprinted from Midwifery Today E-News (Vol 2 Issue 25 June 21, 2000)
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