Seroepidemiologic study of herpes simplex virus type 2 and cytomegalovirus among young adults in northern Jordan

Blood samples were randomly collected from 360 males and 390 females among apparently healthy university students aged 18-24 years and tested for herpes virus type 2 (HSV-2) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibodies. The prevalence of HSV-2 seropositivity was 52.8% for males and 41.5% for females as detected by ELISA. On the other hand, the prevalence of CMV seropositivity was 75.6% in males and 77.2% in females. The high percentage of seropositivity in our study is most probably due to the crowded living and low socioeconomic status of the Jordan population. The higher prevalence in males could be due to the way of life in the Middle East that gives males the freedom to play outdoors more than females.