Chioma Obinna
7 October 2008
Latest reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) bulletin, reveal that no fewer than 500 million people are infected worldwide with the virus that causes genital herpes and more than 20 million people become newly infected each year.
This first-ever estimate of the global burden found that roughly 16 of the world's population in the 15-49 year-old age group were infected, with considerable geographic variation. Women are more commonly infected than men, with the highest prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa where up to 70 percent of women are infected.
Reports available shows that in countries like Nigeria the prevalence is put at over four million annually. A study conducted by ONI, AA, Adu FD, Ekweozor CC in 1994 in Nigeria reported that despite the public health importance of herpes simplex virus infection in Nigeria, attempts have not been made to isolate and identify the virus.
The study which was to isolate, identify, and type the virus from patients attending a sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic in Ibadan, designed 153 clinical samples from 116 patients were taken and inoculated into tissue culture for virus isolation.
Herpes simplex virus type 2 is commonly spread through sexual contact and leads to lifelong infection. While painful genital ulcerations are the classical symptom, most people have mild symptoms and don't know that they are infected.
These persons can thus unknowingly infect others. Dr George Schmid, Department of HIV/AIDS at the WHO says "Serious consequences include an increased risk of acquiring, and likely transmitting, HIV, and transmission from infected mothers to their babies during birth, which can cause brain damage and death.
Managing genital herpes during pregnancy is very important to the health of the soon-to-be-born infant. Infants exposed to the herpes simplex can experience brain infection, seizures, prolonged hospitalisation, mental retardation, and death if the infection takes hold.
With such a frightening prospect for potential harmful or fatal effects on the baby, then persons who have genital herpes must give careful thought to the risks associated with childbearing when one or both future parents have genital herpes.
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