Seroprevalence and Co-Infection of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 and Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Nigeria.

Background: herpes simplex virus type 2 (hsv-2) is a sexually transmitted virus that is the most common cause of genital ulceration worldwide. the increasing evidence that hsv-2 infection could significantly enhance the rates of sexual transmission and acquisition of hu-man immunodeficiency virus (hiv) in developing countries informed our design of this study.objectives: to determine the seroprevalence and co-infection of hsv-2 and hiv and to evaluate their association with demographic factors among adults (?15yrs) in pankshin.methods: one hundred and eighty blood samples were collected from adults, age ?15 years from town clinic pankshin and general hospital billang shippang in pankshin local govern-ment area of plateau state. determinetm and stat pak rapid test kits were used to screen the collected samples for antibodies to hiv. the seroprevalence of hsv-2 was determined using diapro hsv-2 type specific elisa kit according to the manufacturer’s instructional manual.results: the estimated prevalence of hsv-2 was 24.4% and it was higher among women (26.09%) than among men (21.53%). that of hiv was 19.49%; men had a prevalence rate of 4.69% while that of women was 5.22%.conclusion: hsv-2 antibodies were frequent in the study group, genital herpes was not re-ported by the hsv-2 positive subjects, indicating low awareness of the hsv-2 infection. the prevalence of hiv however was not that significant. the percentage of co-infection was 2.8%.