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Sexual roulette and the single mom: genital herpes sores boost risk of HIV infection
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Are you gambling your health and children's futures?
The majority of adult singles are sexually active. And it’s no secret that sexually transmitted infections are on the rise. For single moms infected with herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) their risk for HIV infection increases—even after successful treatment heals the genital skin sores and breaks.
Genital herpes, a contagious viral infection, affects an estimated 45 million Americans. And it is believed that there are 1 million new cases each year.
Genital HSV-2 infection is more common in women (approximately one out of four women) than in men (almost one out of eight). This may be due to male-to-female transmission being more likely than female-to-male transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to The American Social Health Association, it is estimated that two thirds of those infected have no noticeable symptoms or no symptoms at all. Studies have shown that this virus can be spread when there are no symptoms present. For many years, HSV 2 was believed to be a painful and dangerous infection that affects people with an “active sex life”. Genital herpes can infect anyone who has sex, even if only once.
Anti-herpes drug does not reduce risk of HIV infection in people with genital herpes virus
The anti-herpes drug acyclovir did not reduce the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted HIV when given to men and women infected with herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2), according to a recently concluded clinical trial funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Multiple studies indicate that people infected with HSV-2 are at increased risk of acquiring HIV. These findings dampen hopes that using acyclovir, a safe and widely used herpes drug, could reduce HIV transmission by suppressing HSV-2 and preventing genital sores and breaks in the skin. Although acyclovir reduces the occurrence of genital sores, the study revealed that the difference in HIV rates in the acyclovir and placebo group was not statistically significant, indicating that when acyclovir is used twice daily at the 400-mg dose, the drug did not prevent HSV-2-infected individuals from becoming infected with HIV.
Scientists learn why even treated genital herpes sores boost the risk of HIV infection
New research helps explain why infection with herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2), which causes genital herpes, increases the risk for HIV infection even after successful treatment heals the genital skin sores and breaks that often result from HSV-2.
HSV-2, one of the most common sexually transmitted infections worldwide, is associated with a two- to three-fold increased risk for HIV infection. Scientists conducting the study discovered these four important findings.
• CD4+ T cells—the cells that HIV primarily infects—populate the tissue of healed genital HSV-2 lesions at concentrations 2 to 37 times greater than in unaffected genital skin. Treatment with acyclovir did not reduce this long-lasting, high concentration of HSV-2-specific CD4+ T cells.
• A significant proportion of these CD4+ T cells carried CCR5 or CXCR4, the cell-surface proteins that HIV uses (in addition to CD4) to enter cells. The percentage of CD4+ T cells expressing CCR5 during acute HSV-2 infection and after healing of genital sores was twice as high in biopsies from the sites of these sores as from unaffected control skin.
• A significantly higher concentration of immune cells, called dendritic cells, ferry HIV particles to CD4+ T cells, which the virus infects, which is an ideal scenario for the rapid spread of HIV infection.
• Laboratory evidence found that HIV replicates three to five times as quickly in cultured tissue from the sites of healed HSV-2 lesions than in cultured tissue from control sites.
These findings help explain why people infected with HSV-2 are at greater risk of acquiring HIV, even after successful acyclovir treatment of genital lesions.
For more information:
Defining the differences in types of HSV
Signs and symptoms of genital herpes
Personal health inquiries and information about STDs
Disclaimer: The links provided below do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs. Each organization is responsible for their content.
CDC-INFO Contact Center,1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636), Email: cdcinfo@cdc.gov
National Herpes Hotline, (919) 361-8488
National Herpes Resource Center, Email: herpesnet@ashastd.org
Resources:
CDC National Prevention Information Network (NPIN), P.O. Box 6003, Rockville, MD 20849-6003, 1-800-458-5231, 1-888-282-7681 Fax, 1-800-243-7012 TTY, E-mail: info@cdcnpin.org
American Social Health Association (ASHA),P. O. Box 13827, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-3827,1-800-783-9877
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