Herpes simplex virus type 2 shedding in human immunodeficiency virus-negative men who have sex with men: frequency, patterns, and risk factors.

We investigated the frequency, site, and risk factors for herpes simplex virus (HSV) shedding in 30 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative HSV type 2 (HSV-2)-seropositive men who have sex with men. Subjects collected daily HSV culture samples from genital, perianal, and oral areas for 100 days and maintained diaries of signs and symptoms. Sixteen men (53.3%) shed HSV-2, and 9 (56.3%) of 16 men who were also HSV type 1 (HSV-1)-seropositive shed HSV-1. Overall, HSV-2 was isolated on 3.1% of the days; 68% of the isolations were on days that lesions did not occur. HSV-2 shedding was predominantly perianal (83.3%). HSV-1 was isolated on 2.1% of the days; 23 of 24 HSV-1 isolates were from oral areas. Rates of perianal or genital shedding were 6.6% on the days that participants reported prodromal symptoms and 1.9% on the days that participants did not report prodromal symptoms (P<.001). Men seropositive for both HSV-1 and HSV-2 were significantly more likely to shed HSV-2 (odds ratio, 4.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.4-11.9) than were HSV-2-seropositive men. HSV-2-seropositive men who have sex with men have frequent subclinical HSV-2 shedding, usually from the perianal area, and more frequent prodromal HSV-2 shedding.