Neonatal herpes simplex

Congenital herpesviral (herpes simplex) infection
Classification and external resources
Specialty pediatrics
ICD-10 P35.2
ICD-9-CM 771.2, 054.xx
eMedicine article/964866

Neonatal herpes simplex is a rare but serious condition, usually caused by vertical transmission of herpes simplex virus from mother to newborn. Around 1 in every 3,500 babies in the United States contract the infection.[1]

Signs and symptoms

Neonatal herpes manifests itself in three forms: skin, eyes, and mouth herpes (SEM) sometimes referred to as "localized", disseminated herpes (DIS), and central nervous system herpes(CNS).[2]

CNS herpes is associated with highest morbidity, and DIS herpes has a higher mortality rate. These categories are not mutually exclusive and there is often overlap of two or more types. SEM herpes has the best prognosis of the three, however, if left untreated it may progress to disseminated or CNS herpes with its attendant increases in mortality and morbidity.

Death from neonatal HSV disease in the U.S. is currently decreasing; The current death rate is about 25%, down from as high as 85% in untreated cases just a few decades ago. Other complications from neonatal herpes include prematurity with approximately 50% of cases having a gestation of 38 weeks or less, and a concurrent sepsis in approximately one quarter of cases that further clouds speedy diagnosis.

Cause

Risk factors

Among the maternal risk factors for Neonatal HSV-1: White non-Hispanic race,[5] young maternal age (<25), primary infection in third trimester[6] , first pregnancy, HSV (1&2) seronegative,[4][7] discordant partner,[8] gestation <38 weeks,[6] receptive oral sex in third trimester.[9]

Neonatal HSV-2 maternal risk factors: Black race,[10] young maternal age (<21),[4][6] discordant partner, primary or non primary first episode infection in third trimester,[11] four or more lifetime sexual partners,[10] lower level of education,[10] history of previous STD, history of pregnancy wastage, first viable pregnancy, gestation <38 weeks.[4][6]

Transmission

The majority of cases (85%) occur during birth when the baby comes in contact with infected genital secretions in the birth canal, most common with mothers that have newly been exposed to the virus (mothers that had the virus before pregnancy have a lower risk of transmission), an estimated 5% are infected in utero, and approximately 10% of cases are acquired postnatally. Detection and prevention is difficult because transmission is asymptomatic in 60% - 98%[12] of cases.

Treatment

Reductions in morbidity and mortality are due to the use of antiviral treatments such as vidarabine and acyclovir.[2][13][14][15] However, morbidity and mortality still remain high due to diagnosis of DIS and CNS herpes coming too late for effective antiviral administration; early diagnosis is difficult in the 20-40% of infected neonates that have no visible lesions.[16] A recent large scale retrospective study found disseminated NHSV patients least likely to get timely treatment, contributing to the high morbidity/mortality in that group.[17]

Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, recommends that pregnant women with active genital herpes lesions at the time of labor be delivered by caesarean section. Women whose herpes is not active can be managed with acyclovir.[18] The current practice is to deliver women with primary or first episode non primary infection via caesarean section, and those with recurrent infection vaginally, even in the presence of lesions because of the low risk (1-3%) of vertical transmission associated with recurrent herpes.

Epidemiology

Neonatal HSV rates in the U.S. are estimated to be between 1 in 3,000 and 1 in 20,000 live births. Approximately 22% of pregnant women in the U.S. have had previous exposure to HSV-2, and an additional 2% acquire the virus during pregnancy, mirroring the HSV-2 infection rate in the general population.[19] The risk of transmission to the newborn is 30-57% in cases where the mother acquired a primary infection in the third trimester of pregnancy. Risk of transmission by a mother with existing antibodies for both HSV-1 and HSV-2 has a much lower (1-3%) transmission rate. This in part is due to the transfer of significant titer of protective maternal antibodies to the fetus from about the seventh month of pregnancy.[4][20] However, shedding of HSV-1 from both primary genital infection and reactivations is associated with higher transmission from mother to infant.[4]

HSV-1 neonatal herpes is extremely rare in developing countries because development of HSV-1 specific antibodies usually occurs in childhood or adolescence, precluding a later genital HSV-1 infection. HSV-2 infections are much more common in these countries. In industrialized nations, the adolescent HSV-1 seroprevalance has been dropping steadily for the last 5 decades. The resulting increase in the number of young women becoming sexually active while HSV-1 seronegative has contributed to increased HSV-1 genital herpes rates, and as a result, increased HSV-1 neonatal herpes in developed nations. A recent three-year study in Canada (2000–2003) revealed a neonatal HSV incidence of 5.9 per 100,000 live births and a case fatality rate of 15.5%. HSV-1 was the cause of 62.5% of cases of neonatal herpes of known type, and 98.3% of transmission was asymptomatic.[12] Asymptomatic genital HSV-1 has been shown to be more infectious to the neonate, and is more likely to produce neonatal herpes, than HSV-2,[4][21] However, with prompt application of antiviral therapy, the prognosis of neonatal HSV-1 infection is better than that for HSV-2.

See also

References

  1. Bloomberg News (July 14, 2009). "Neonatal herpes simplex". Boston Children's Hospital. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  2. 1 2 Kimberlin DW, Whitley RJ (2005). "Neonatal herpes: what have we learned". Semin Pediatr Infect Dis. 16 (1): 7–16. doi:10.1053/j.spid.2004.09.006. PMID 15685144.
  3. Prober CG (1997). Long SS, Pickering LK, Prober CG, eds. Herpes simplex virus. Churchhill Livingstone, New York. p. 1138.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Brown ZA, Wald A, Morrow RA, Selke S, Zeh J, Corey L (2003). "Effect of serologic status and cesarean delivery on transmission rates of herpes simplex virus from mother to infant". JAMA. 289 (2): 203–9. doi:10.1001/jama.289.2.203. PMID 12517231.
  5. Xu F, Markowitz LE, Gottlieb SL, Berman SM (January 2007). "Seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 in pregnant women in the United States". Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 196 (1): 43.e1–6. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2006.07.051. PMID 17240228.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Whitley R (June 2004). "Neonatal herpes simplex virus infection". Curr. Opin. Infect. Dis. 17 (3): 243–6. doi:10.1097/00001432-200406000-00012. PMID 15166828.
  7. Nahmias AJ (August 2004). "Neonatal HSV infection Part II: Obstetric considerations -- a tale of hospitals in two cities (Seattle and Atlanta, USA)". Herpes. 11 (2): 41–4. PMID 15955267.
  8. Baker DA (December 2005). "Risk factors for herpes simplex virus transmission to pregnant women: a couples study". Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 193 (6): 1887–8. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2005.08.007. PMID 16325587.
  9. Nahmias AJ (August 2004). "Neonatal HSV infection Part I: continuing challenges" (PDF). Herpes. 11 (2): 33–7. PMID 15955265.
  10. 1 2 3 Mertz GJ (December 1993). "Epidemiology of genital herpes infections". Infect. Dis. Clin. North Am. 7 (4): 825–39. PMID 8106731.
  11. Gardella C, Brown ZA, Wald A, et al. (August 2005). "Poor correlation between genital lesions and detection of herpes simplex virus in women in labor". Obstetrics and gynecology. 106 (2): 268–74. doi:10.1097/01.AOG.0000171102.07831.74. PMID 16055574.
  12. 1 2 Kropp RY.; Wong T; et al. (2006). "Neonatal Herpes Simplex Virus Infections in Canada: Results of a 3-Year National Prospective Study". Pediatrics. 117 (61): 1955–1962. doi:10.1542/peds.2005-1778. PMID 16740836.
  13. Kesson AM (2001). "Management of neonatal herpes simplex virus infection". Paediatr Drugs. 3 (2): 81–90. doi:10.2165/00128072-200103020-00001. PMID 11269641.
  14. "The Merck Manual, Neonatal Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) Infection".
  15. Brocklehurst P, Kinghorn GA, et al. (1998). "randomised placebo controlled trial of suppressive acyclovir in late pregnancy in women with recurrent genital herpes infection". Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 105 (3): 275–80. doi:10.1111/j.1471-0528.1998.tb10086.x. PMID 9532986.
  16. Jacobs RF (1998). "Neonatal herpes simplex virus infections". Semin. Perinatol. 22 (1): 64–71. doi:10.1016/S0146-0005(98)80008-6. PMID 9523400.
  17. Caviness AC, Demmler GJ, Selwyn BJ (May 2008). "Clinical and laboratory features of neonatal herpes simplex virus infection: a case-control study". Pediatr. Infect. Dis. J. 27 (5): 425–30. doi:10.1097/INF.0b013e3181646d95. PMID 18360301.
  18. Ch. 6, "Medical Disorders during Pregnancy," in Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 16th ed., 2005
  19. Brown ZA, Gardella C, Wald A, Morrow RA, Corey L (2005). "Genital herpes complicating pregnancy". Obstet Gynecol. 106 (4): 845–56. doi:10.1097/01.AOG.0000180779.35572.3a. PMID 16199646.
  20. Brown ZA, Benedetti J, Ashley R, Burchett S, Selke S, Berry S, Vontver LA, Corey L (May 1991). "Neonatal herpes simplex virus infection in relation to asymptomatic maternal infection at the time of labor". N Engl J Med. 324 (18): 1247–52. doi:10.1056/NEJM199105023241804. PMID 1849612.
  21. Brown ZA, Gardella C, Malm G, Prober CG, Forsgren M, Krantz EM, Arvin AM, Yasukawa LL, Mohan K, Brown Z, Corey L, Wald A (2007). "Effect of maternal herpes simplex virus (HSV) serostatus and HSV type on risk of neonatal herpes". Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 86 (5): 523–529. doi:10.1080/00016340601151949. PMID 17464578.
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