Grant: Ca. Gr.: Biomedical Res. for HIV/AIDS/STBBI - Next-generation prev. technologies

Herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) are common, incurable viral infections that cause cold sores and genital herpes, and are also associated with considerable anxiety. Rarely, they can cause severe diseases, including brain infections. HSV-2 also increases the risk of getting and transmitting HIV, and may be particularly harmful in people living with HIV. It can be difficult to diagnose HSV because many people are completely asymptomatic and because type-specific antibody testing is not widely available. We recently received CIHR funding to conduct a preliminary trial of the anti-herpes drug valacyclovir for preventing HSV-2 among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBM), and have previously shown good acceptability of this strategy in this population. Similar work is needed in cisgender women. Researchers are also actively studying vaccines against HSV. To inform these important prevention studies, it is important to know how common these infections are ("seroprevalence") and what individual-level characteristics are associated with these infections, and to evaluate acceptability in women. Such information would also be invaluable for informing counseling and health promotion messaging for clinicians and their patients. We will study these issues in two parallel studies among GBM and cisgender women in urban Canada. Our work in GBM will use previously collected questionnaire data and a biobank of 941 serum samples from the Engage study, a comprehensive CIHR-funded cohort study of GBM in urban Canada. We will collect similar samples and questionnaire data among women attending sexual health visits. Our work will be conducted by an interdisciplinary research team with engagement of population-specific Community Advisory Boards. We will disseminate findings to community, clinical, public health, and research partners to advance research and preventive health messaging on these important sexually transmitted viral infections.