Seroprevalence of Herpes Simplex Virus Type Two in Patients Attending General Outpatient Clinic in Sokoto

Introduction: The herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection is a common sexually transmitted illness with a large disease burden, with the largest disease burden in Sub-Saharan Africa. Researchers and policymakers can benefit from a source of detailed data on the prevalence of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2). Objective: This study determined the seroprevalence of HSV-2 infection among patients presenting with fever at the specialist hospital Sokoto. Methodology: Commercial HSV type-1&-2 specific IgG Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) kits were used to analyse serum samples from 92 randomly selected patients. The association between infection and socio-demographic characteristics was determined using the Chi-square test using SPSS version 22 (IBM, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results: The seroprevalence of HSV-2 was found to be 54.3% (n=50); antibodies to the virus were found in all of the patients. Male patients 21(67.7%) and single patients 23(63.9%) had a higher HSV-2 prevalence than married individuals who constituted 48% of the patients having seropositive HSV (P= 0.141). Those who did not practice protective sex had a higher seroprevalence of HSV-2 (52.8 %: 28/53). Conclusion: HSV-2 infection was found in more than half of the patients. It is therefore recommended that comprehensive, large nationally surveys should be carried out to guide policy and planning. Keywords: Sero-prevalence, HSV-2, Sokoto