2/3 MedWorm: Genital Herpes

MedWorm: Genital Herpes Screening of Herpes simplex virus 2 infection among pregnant women in southern China. January 31, 2011 at 6:00 PM We examined 1740 sera collected from pregnant women aged 21-39 years, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of specific antibodies against HSV-2. The overall prevalence of HSV-2 infection was 23.56% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 21.53-26.00). The prevalence of HSV-2 infection in the women with abnormal pregnancy was 35.93% (95% CI = 26.23-42.44) (83/231), which was much higher than that in women who had been pregnant before but without abnormal pregnancy and that in the primipara group. (P < 0.05). The presence of HSV-2 antibodies was also associated with status of education. The prevalence of HSV-2 infection in the 26-30-year age group (27.49%) (95% CI = 24.53-30.33) was the highest among all age groups. The prevalence of HSV-2 infection in pregn... MedWorm Sponsor Message: Watch the new MedWorm demo and find out how to get all the very latest, relevant, organized information daily! Immunization with Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV-2) Genes Plus Inactivated HSV-2 Is Highly Protective Against Acute and Recurrent HSV-2 Disease. January 25, 2011 at 6:00 PM In this study, we evaluated a DNA prime- formalin-inactivated virus (FI-HSV2) boost vaccine approach in the guinea pig model of acute and recurrent HSV-2 genital disease. Five groups of guinea pigs were immunized and intravaginally challenged with HSV-2. Two groups were primed with plasmid DNAs encoding the secreted form of glycoprotein D2 (gD2t) together with two genes required for viral replication, either helicase (UL5) and DNA polymerase (UL30) or single stranded DNA binding protein (UL29) and primase (UL52). Both DNA primed groups were boosted with FI-HSV2 formulated with monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL) and alum adjuvants. Two additional groups were primed with the empty backbone plasmid DNA (pVAX). They were boosted with MPL/alum together with either mock HSV-2 (FI-Mock) or with FI-HSV2... Role of the infections in recurrent spontaneous abortion. January 23, 2011 at 6:00 PM Authors: Nigro G, Mazzocco M, Mattia E, Carlo di Renzo G, Carta G, Anceschi MM Embryo-fetal infections have been reported to cause recurrent spontaneous abortions (RSAs) at a rate lower than 4%. The possible mechanisms include production of toxic metabolic byproducts, fetal or placental infection, chronic endometrial infection, and chorio-amnionitis. Viruses appear to be the most frequently involved pathogens, since some of them can produce chronic or recurrent maternal infection. In particular, cytomegalovirus during pregnancy can reach the placenta by viremia, following both primary and recurrent infection, or by ascending route from the cervix, mostly following reactivation. Another herpesvirus, herpes simplex virus type 2, less frequently type 1, causes recurrent infections of the ...