Co-infection and associated risk factors of herpes simplex virus type-1 and human immunodeficiency virus among patients attending Faith Alive Foundation Hospital Jos, North Central Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Studies have reported that Genital herpes is of high public health implications in immuno-compromised individuals. Aim: The study seeks to determine how common herpes simplex virus -1 (HSV-1) infections are among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) carriers and identify associated risk factors. Methods: Eighty-seven (87) apparently healthy subjects were tested for HSV-1 and HIV-1 using an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) test Kit (Clinotech, Canada, USA), containing HSV-1 type-specific glycoprotein; Determine Kit (Inverness Medicom, Japan) and UniGold Kit (Trinity Biotech, Bray, Ireland), containing recombinant antigens. Results: Of 87 sera, 76(87.4%), and 30(34.5%) were seropositive for HSV-1 and HIV respectively while the co-infection seroprevalence rate of both viruses was 26(29.9%). The co-infection seroprevalence rate of HSV-1 and HIV-1 was highest in the age group ≥45 years (47.4%) while the age group 15-24 years had the lowest co-infection seroprevalence rate of 14.3% (p >0.05). Women had a higher co-infection seroprevalence rate of 34.0% than men (24.3%). Of all the socio-demographics assessed, only the level of education was significantly associated with the prevalence of HIV and HSV-1/HIV co-infection respectively (p = 0.003; 0.001). Conclusions: The present study showed that HSV-1 infections are common among HIV carriers and HSV-1 is endemic in the study population as all age groups were affected. This finding underscores the need for further research to understand the interactions between HSV-1 and HIV to provide effective methods of reducing the infection burden.

Keywords

• herpes simplex virus type 1
• hiv
• co-infection
• jos
• nigeria