Detection Of Human Herpes Simplex Virus Infections In The Lebanese Population Using Conventional Pcr

Research Article
Mahmoud Mohamad El Homsi., Saad Khairallah., Bilal Kalaaji., Basma Nasr., KhodorHaidar Hassan and Mohamad Mortada
DOI: 
xxx-xxxxx-xxxx
Subject: 
science
KeyWords: 
Infection, HSV-1, HSV-2, Lebanon, PCR.
Abstract: 

Extremely widespread, Herpes infections are in most cases benign and even completely asymptomatic. When the disease is expressed, cutaneous and mucous clinical signs are highly variable, often disturbing, sometimes disabling because of the pain and are even hopeless due to their recurrent infections. The genital Herpes, which affects the sexual organs and their proximity, is caused by Herpes simlex virus type 2 (HSV-2). In some cases, the symptoms are intense and painful, especially in female patients, yet these symptoms are very limited and even absent in other cases depending mostly on the physiology of the patient. However, when the infection reaches the orofacial region, it appears in most cases as "cold sores" outside the mouth and around the lips but can also affect the eyes which may lead to altered vision in the long term. Oral Herpes is caused by the Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Currently, Pap Smears are crucial in order to prevent HSV infections. The detection of the viral genome of HSV is possible using molecular biology tools, displaying a wide range of detection strategies. The aim of this paper is to perform an epidemiologic study to evaluate the prevalence of Human Herpes simplex virus infection in the Lebanese population and it's variation within 10 consecutive years between 2006 and 2015. To process this study, we've analyzed data provided by the Lebanese National institute of pathology (INP) using Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved HSV genotyping kits, which allow the detection of both HSV-1 and HSV-2. These data consisted of reports revealing HSV infectious status in addition to patients personal information of different types of samples (vaginal secretions, genital lesions, oral lesions, vulvar vesicles, cerebrospinal fluid). Statistical analysis has shown that Herpes infections occurred in variable rates ranging between 9% and 30% of infected subjects within the time course of the study (2006-2015).