Autism Risk Linked to Herpes Infection During Pregnancy

Columbia: Women actively infected with genital herpes during early pregnancy had twice the odds of giving birth to a child later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to a study by scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. The study is the first to provide immunological evidence on the role of gestational infection in autism, reporting an association between maternal anti-herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) antibodies and risk for ASD in offspring. Results appear in mSphere, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

Medication May Provide Greater Virus Suppression, Reduction in Lesions for Patients with Genital Herpes

JAMA: In a study appearing in the December 20 issue of JAMA, Anna Wald, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Washington & Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, and colleagues compared the medications pritelivir and valacyclovir for reducing genital herpes simplex virus shedding and lesions in persons with recurrent genital herpes. The treatment for genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections relies on the nucleoside analogues acyclovir, valacyclovir, or famciclovir administered either for each recurrence or daily to prevent recurrences. In addition, valacyclovir, when taken daily has been shown to reduce the risk of HSV-2 transmission to susceptible partners. However, the protection is only partial (approximately 50 percent), likely because these drugs neither completely inhibit genital viral shedding (when the virus is active and potentially transmissible to sexual partners). Alternative agents to treat HSV infections are needed.

Herpes could be bad for the heart

Scimex: A Canadian and US study, involving nearly 20,000 people, has found that individuals with a copy of the human herpesvirus 6 genome in their DNA, are three times as likely to suffer from angina, a common symptom of heart disease, as those without the virus. The researchers also found that, compared with others, those who suffer from angina, and have the virus, have significantly shorter telomeres - the DNA at the ends of chromosomes that are linked to many ageing-related diseases. According to a study of nearly 20,000 participants, individuals with a copy of the human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) genome integrated into their chromosomes are three times as likely to suffer from angina as those without the virus, and individuals having both angina and integrated HHV-6 have significantly shorter telomeres than individuals without HHV-6.

Herpes zoster

• Herpes Zoster (also known as shingles or zoster) is a painful skin rash caused by the varicella zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox.
• After a person is infected with VZV and develops chickenpox, the virus usually remains dormant (or inactive) in nerve cells known as dorsal root and cranial ganglia without causing any symptoms.
• Ninety-eight percent of the world’s adults have been exposed to the varicella virus and are therefore at risk of getting zoster. 
• Reactivation (the return of the VZV to the skin leading to the rash) may occur spontaneously, but is usually thought to be induced by a temporary or permanent weakness in a patient’s immune system.
• The rash of zoster cannot be passed from one person to another. 
• Most cases of zoster begin with intense pain in the affected area of skin that usually lasts one to three days before any rash appears (though it can be more than a week). This pain, and the rash that follows, is usually limited to an area of skin (single side of the body) associated with a single sensory nerve (known as a dermatome) and the immediate surrounding area. 
• In most patients, affected areas of skin heal well. 
• In about one-third of cases, the pain of zoster can be prolonged for months or years after the rash subsides. 
• Most cases of zoster are straightforwardly diagnosed by physicians without further testing. 
• Acute attacks of zoster are usually treated with oral antiviral medications (acyclovir, famciclovir, or valacyclovir). 
• The zoster vaccine, approved by the FDA in 2006, is indicated for the prevention of zoster in adults age 60 years and older. 
• More about herpes zoster

Herpes zoster

Author: Dr Jack Resneck Jr University of California San Francisco 2008-07-28

Herpes Zoster: A Painful Skin Rash (also known as Shingles or Zoster) Caused by the Varicella Zoster Virus.

Introduction:

Herpes Zoster (also known as shingles or zoster) is a painful skin rash caused by the varicella zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox.  This is a different virus than the one that causes genital herpes and fever blisters (herpes simplex).  Zoster was not known to be associated with chickenpox until 1888, and the two diseases were linked to a common virus in the early twentieth century.