Objectives. To assess the prevalence and determinants of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infections among pregnant women attending mobile antenatal health clinic in rural villages in Mysore Taluk, India. Methods. Between January and September 2009, 487 women from 52 villages participated in this study. Each participant consented to provide a blood sample for HSV-2 and HIV testing and underwent an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Results. HSV-2 prevalence was 6.7% (95% confidence interval (CI) 4.4–9.0), and one woman tested positive for HIV. The median age of women was 20 years and 99% of women reported having a single lifetime sex partner. Women whose sex partner traveled away from home had 2.68 (CI: 1.13–6.34) times the odds of being HSV-2 seropositive compared to women whose sex partner did not travel. Having experienced genital lesions was also associated with HSV-2 infection ( value = 0.08). Conclusion. The 6.7% HSV-2 prevalence was similar to results obtained in studies among pregnant women in other parts of India. It appeared that most women in this study contracted HSV-2 from their spouses and few regularly used condoms. This finding highlights the need for public health policies to increase awareness and education about prevention methods among women and men living in rural India. 1. Background An estimated 536 million people aged 15–49 are infected with the herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) worldwide [1]. HSV-2 is typically spread through sexual contact and results in a lifelong infection. The predominant symptom of the disease is genital lesions, but a majority of infected individuals experience no symptoms or mild ones that are often unrecognized [2]. The high rate of asymptomatic cases enhances HSV-2 transmission because asymptomatic individuals shed the virus and transmit the disease [3]. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the adverse sequelae of HSV-2 infection [4]. HSV-2 infection in pregnancy has been associated with premature delivery, low birthweight infants, fetal malformations, and vertical transmission of the virus during childbirth [4, 5]. While neonatal herpes occurs in less than 1% of prevalent infections, the risk of transmission increases to 25–50% among women infected during pregnancy [6, 7]. In addition, it is estimated that prevalent HSV-2 infection is associated with a 2- to 4-fold increased risk of HIV-1 acquisition [8]. The seroprevalence of HSV-2 varies by region, country, and population [9]. Various studies have estimated that about 40% of pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa, 30% in Latin
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