First estimates of the global and regional incidence of neonatal herpes infection.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Neonatal herpes is a rare but potentially devastating condition with an estimated 60% fatality rate without treatment. Transmission usually occurs during delivery from mothers with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) or type 2 (HSV-2) genital infection. However, the global burden has never been quantified to our knowledge. We developed a novel methodology for burden estimation and present first WHO global and regional estimates of the annual number of neonatal herpes cases during 2010-15.

Methods

We applied previous estimates of HSV-1 and HSV-2 prevalence and incidence in women aged 15-49 years to 2010-15 birth rates to estimate infections during pregnancy. We then applied published risks of neonatal HSV transmission according to whether maternal infection was inc

SUBMITTER: Looker KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5837040 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature