Original Article http://dx.doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2012.53.2.401 pISSN: 0513-5796, eISSN: 1976-2437 Yonsei Med J 53(2):401-407, 2012 Herpes Simplex Virus 2 Infection Rate and Necessity of Screening during Pregnancy: A Clinical and Seroepidemiologic Study Il Dong Kim, Ho Sun Chang, and Kyung Jin Hwang Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Grace Women’s Hospital, Goyang, Korea. Received: March 18, 2011 Revised: June 5, 2011 Accepted: June 22, 2011 Corresponding author: Dr. Il Dong Kim , Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Grace Women’s Hospital, 1334 Baekseok-dong, Ilsandong-gu, Goyang 410-360, Korea. Tel: 82-31-901-4000, Fax: 82-2-2297-8409 E-mail: kimid@hanmail.net ∙ The authors have no financial conflicts of interest. Purpose: This study determined the seroprevalence of herpes virus 2 in gravidas and the differences between herpes virus 2-infected and healthy gravidas. The need to screen gravidas for herpes virus 2 was also evaluated. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis involving 500 gravidas who underwent herpes virus 2 serologic testing and delivery in our hospital between January 2009 and August 2010 was performed. All patients in the study group were classified as her- pes simplex virus 2 (HSV2) positive, and all cases were analyzed with respect to the clinical course of the pregnancy, pregnancy outcome, obstetric complications, and neonatal outcomes. SPSS software (version 14.0) was used for statistical anal- ysis. A chi-square test and Student’s t-test were used for statistical analysis. Re- sults: In the current study, the herpes virus 2 seroprevalence rate in gravidas was 17%. There was no significant difference in the rates of preterm delivery, prema- ture rupture of membranes, preterm labor, and intrauterine growth restriction be- tween the herpes virus 2-infected gravidas and the healthy control group. The rates of spontaneous abortion and sexually transmitted disease were higher in the herpes virus 2 infection group than the healthy control group. Conclusion: After educat- ing gravidas on genital herpes and, if gravidas thereafter consent to herpes virus 2 screening, the risk of neonatal herpes virus 2 infections can be reduced. In addi- tion, examination of gravidas for sexually transmitted diseases would increase as would appropriate treatment. Key Words: Herpes virus 2, seroprevalence, pregnancy, sexually transmitted dis- ease INTRODUCTION © Copyright: Yonsei University College of Medicine 2012 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non- Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non- commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Herples simplex virus (HSV) is an enveloped, double stranded DNA virus perti- nent to the human herpesvirus family. Although closely related, HSV1 and HSV2 still contain sufficient differences to enable type identification and serodiagnosis, however both viruses are neurotropic,1 attaching themselves to a host epidermal or mucosal cell and then transporting the enveloped virions via axons to the nuclei of the neuronal cells.2 Yonsei Med J http://www.eymj.org Volume 53 Number 2 March 2012 401