Prevalence of active infection by herpes simplex virus type 2 in patients with high‐risk human papillomavirus infection: A cross‐sectional study

The aim is to determine the prevalence of active infection by herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV‐2) among Mexican women with high‐risk human papillomavirus (HR‐HPV) cervical infection, recruited from public gynecology and colposcopy services. In a cross‐sectional study, HSV‐2 antibodies, HSV‐2 DNA, and HR‐HPV DNA were quantified. Significant differences in HSV‐2 seroprevalence and HSV‐2 active infection rates were found between negative and positive HR‐HPV cases. HSV‐2 seroprevalence was 28.15% and 16.1% (P = .0001), while HSV‐2 active infection rates were 6.83% and 0.62% (P = .001) for positive and negative HR‐HPV groups, respectively. The risk of HSV‐2 seropositivity was 1.7 times greater for HR‐HPV‐positive cases (P = .02). Similarly, HR‐HPV‐positive cases were nine times more likely to have an HSV‐2 active infection than HR‐HPV‐negative cases (P = .03). High HSV‐2/h‐HPV coinfection rates were observed among women recruited from public gynecology and colposcopy services. The main factors related to an HSV‐2 active infection are a history of risky sexual behavior and HR‐HPV infection. The prevalence of HSV‐2 active infection among positive HR‐HPV subjects indicate that these infections constitute an important group of STIs in Mexico. Research Highlights The current study included data from seroprevalence of HSV‐2 infection and the rate of HSV‐2 active infection among women recruited from public gynecology and colposcopy services and determined the demographic, clinical, and sexual behavior characteristics associated to HSV‐2 seroprevalence and active infection. This study provides information about High HSV‐2/HR‐HPV coinfection rates are observed among women recruited from public gynecology and colposcopy services indicating that these infections constitute an important group of sexually‐transmitted infections in Mexico.