{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,2]],"date-time":"2026-06-02T00:04:08Z","timestamp":1780358648315,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,7]],"date-time":"2022-11-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1667779200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006013","name":"United Arab Emirates University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006013","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is a common genitally-transmitted viral infection affecting more than 400 million individuals globally. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in specific at-risk population groups, the burden of HSV-2 has not been reported. This study investigated the prevalence of HSV-2 IgG antibodies in patients seeking fertility treatment and characterized patients with seropositivity to HSV-2 IgG antibodies.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methodology<\/jats:title><jats:p>A cross-sectional sample of patients seeking fertility treatment in a major fertility clinic in Abu Dhabi, UAE was surveyed from April to May 2021. Patients were consecutively invited to complete self-administered questionnaires and provide blood for HSV-2 testing. Information on sociodemographics, medical history, and infertility was collected. Serum specimens were screened using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for HSV-2 IgG antibodies detection.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Two hundred and ninety-nine patients were surveyed and provided blood samples. The mean age of the patients was 35.9 \u00b1 6.8 [mean \u00b1 standard deviation (SD)] years with 89.3% being women. Sixty-six percent were overweight or obese, 25.0% had at least one chronic comorbidity, and 19.6% reported ever-had genital infection. More than two-thirds (68.3%) of the patients were infertile for \u2265 6 months. Of the 42 infertile males, 69.0% had an abnormal semen analysis. HSV-2 IgG antibodies was detected in 12.4% of patients. The HSV-2 IgG seropositive patients had a higher mean age (39.5 vs. 35.4 years; p &amp;lt; 0.001) compared to seronegative patients. HSV-2 IgG antibodies seropositivity was more common in males (15.6%) than females (12.0%), in patients with secondary (14.1%) vs. primary (9.2%) infertility, or in males with abnormal (10.3%) vs. normal (7.7%) semen.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Exposure to HSV-2 at any time in patients seeking fertility treatment in the UAE was found to be slightly common in more than one out of 10 patients. Tailored health campaigns on HSV-2 prevention are warranted.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2022.991040","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,7]],"date-time":"2022-11-07T14:10:31Z","timestamp":1667830231000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Herpes simplex virus type 2 seroprevalence and associated factors in fertility-treatment-seeking population: A cross-sectional survey in the United Arab Emirates"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Noor Motea","family":"Abdo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Irfan","family":"Aslam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shazia","family":"Irfan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Junu 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