Laboratory of Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
J Med Virol. 2014 Mar;86(3):519-24. doi: 10.1002/jmv.23817. Epub 2013 Dec 13.
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases worldwide, with HSV-2 being primarily associated with genital infections. HSV-2 is believed to account for the majority of cases of neonatal herpes, which may cause diverse of complications in infected newborns. The present study sought to estimate the prevalence of HSV-2 in placental tissue samples and the incidence of HSV-2 in the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants. Placental tissue samples from 201 women (maternal-side and fetal-side = 402 specimens) and 184 neonatal cord blood samples, all collected at the obstetric ward of a University hospital were studied. HSV-2 was detected by means of nested PCR. The prevalence of HSV-2 in placental samples was 9.0% (n = 18), and the incidence of neonatal HSV-2 infection was 1.1% (n = 2). All HSV-2-positive patients were asymptomatic at the time of delivery and none reported genital herpes. Women with a time between rupture of membranes and delivery of ≥360 min had an approximately fourfold risk of HSV-2 infection in the placental tissue (95% CI 0.93-5.66, P = 0.01). These results suggest that HSV-2 is present in the placenta of asymptomatic women and that a risk of transmission to the neonate exists. New strategies must be implemented for the management of asymptomatic patients who are capable of transmitting the virus to the newborn.
单纯疱疹病毒（HSV）感染是全球最普遍的传染病之一，HSV-2 主要与生殖器感染有关。HSV-2 被认为是导致新生儿疱疹的大多数病例的原因，这可能会导致感染新生儿出现多种并发症。本研究旨在估计胎盘组织样本中 HSV-2 的流行率以及新生儿脐带血中 HSV-2 的发生率。研究采集了 201 名女性（母体侧和胎儿侧=402 个标本）和 184 名新生儿脐带血样本，均来自一家大学医院的产科病房。通过巢式 PCR 检测 HSV-2。胎盘样本中 HSV-2 的流行率为 9.0%（n=18），新生儿 HSV-2 感染的发生率为 1.1%（n=2）。所有 HSV-2 阳性患者在分娩时均无症状，且均未报告生殖器疱疹。胎膜破裂至分娩时间≥360 分钟的女性，其胎盘组织中 HSV-2 感染的风险约为四倍（95%CI 0.93-5.66，P=0.01）。这些结果表明，HSV-2 存在于无症状女性的胎盘组织中，并且存在向新生儿传播的风险。必须实施新的策略来管理有能力向新生儿传播病毒的无症状患者。
