estimation of seroprevalence of anti-herpes simplex virus type-1 igg among healthy blood donors in sakaka city, aljouf, saudi arabia

Background: herpes simplex virus type-1 (hsv-1) is a highly infectious neurotropic virus. the data on hsv-1 infection in saudi arabia, including the seroprevalence of hsv-1 antibodies, are scarce. objectives: this is the first study to evaluate the prevalence of anti-hsv-1 immunoglobulin g (igg) in donated blood in sakaka, aljouf, saudi arabia. methods: a total of 300 donated blood samples were collected from the blood bank of prince mutaib bin abdulaziz hospital in sakaka. sensitive and specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) was used to detect anti-hsv-1 igg. a comparison of the age, gender, education, occupation, income, hand hygiene, travel history, and cupping practice of blood donors stratified for the extent of anti-hsv-1 igg was made. results: there was a low prevalence of anti-hsv-1 igg (20%; n = 60/300). moreover, 50.0% of igg-positive participants were in the age group of 41 - 45 years, and 81.7% of the participants had a household income of < 10000 sar (statistically highly significant; p < 0.001*). all the participants performed hand washing with soap before handling food and after using the toilet. furthermore, igg-positive participants had a bachelor’s degree (50.0%), were governmental employees (60.0%), were international travelers (50.0%), and practiced cupping (50.0%) with statistically significant associations (p < 0.05*). conclusions: the current study’s findings support previous reports about the key importance of improving socioeconomic conditions and hygiene measures in reducing the spread of hsv-1. the present study provides an alarm regarding reaching the age of sexual debut without acquiring protective anti-hsv-1 immunoglobulins, consequently becoming more susceptible to acquiring hsv-1 infection through the genital route. these data support the urgent need to develop an effective anti-hsv-1 vaccine.