A serological survey of Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 and 2 immunity in pregnant women at labor stage in Tehran, Iran.

This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of neutralizing antibodies to Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 (HSV-I) and type 2 (HSV-2) in pregnant women at labor stage. Blood samples from umbilical cord of four hundred women aging 16 to 40 years at labor stage were collected. After sera separation quantity of anti HSV-1 and HSV-2 antibodies were measured by serum neutralization test. Antibody quantification was assayed by two fold dilution of sera (from 1/2 to 1/256) with 500 Tissue Culture Infective Dose fifty percent (TCID50) of the HSV-1 and HSV-2, separately. Three hundred sixty three (90.75%) of women had neutralizing antibody against HSV-1. Thirty three (8.25%) tested women were seropositive for HSV-2 antibodies. Our results indicate that there is positive correlation between increase of age and seroprevalence of anti-HSV-2 infection in pregnant women. Furthermore, the pattern of HSV-2 infection is similar with other Sexual Transmitted Disease (STD). These results also show that seroprevalence of anti-HSV-1 antibody in our tested population was remarkable. However, the seroprevalence of anti-HSV-1 antibody in different age groups statistically were not significant. These results also showed that most women before fertility age have infections with HSV-1.