Quantifying population-level sexual risk behavior through HSV-2 transmission dynamics in the United States, 1950-2020.

ABSTRACT: The risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted infection, such as herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), is shaped by sexual risk behavior-an aggregate measure influenced not only by an individual's sexual behavior but also by the broader sexual network. This study quantified the temporal and age-specific variations in sexual risk behavior for HSV-2 infection in the United States population between 1950 and 2020. A population-level mathematical model was used to describe HSV-2 transmission and was calibrated with ten rounds of nationally representative, population-based data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The model produced robust fits to the age-specific, sex-specific, and temporal HSV-2 seroprevalence data across the NHANES rounds. Sexual risk behavior gr

SUBMITTER: Naffeti BS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12494987 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature