Seroepidemiology of herpes simplex type 2 in pregnant women in Belgium.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to study the prevalence of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 in pregnant women in Belgium. STUDY DESIGN: The serum of 1000 consecutive women was collected. HSV-1 and HSV-2 control sera were added to the study. HSV-2 antibodies were tested with the HerpeSelect 2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA; Focus) based on the use of the recombinant gG-2 antigen. RESULTS: The 21 HSV-2 control subjects were positive. Among the HSV-1 control subjects, 18 were negative and 4 were positive. Among the pregnant women, 80.3% were negative, 1.5% had equivocal results, and 18.2% were positive. No statistical difference was observed according to the origin (European or African) of the women. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained with the control sera indicate a high sensitivity of the Focus ELISA, as well as a capacity to discriminate between HSV-1/HSV-2 infection. The HSV-2 prevalence in the studied population raises the question of the possible benefit of a specific preventive program in pregnant women.