Do clinical herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varicella-zoster (VZV) infections accelerate HIV-1-induced immunodeficiency?
OBJECTIVE: In view of reports that herpesvirus products promote HIV-1 replication (JID, 1988, 157:508), we sought to determine whether attacks of HSV and VZV infection accelerate immunodeficiency in HIV-1-seropositive men. METHODS: HIV-1-seropositive AIDS-free homosexual participants reporting clinical HSV or VZV histories during 6-month follow-up periods were compared to HIV-1-seropositives reporting neither HSV nor VZV. Rates of loss of CD4+ cells were compared for the intervals before, around and after the recognition of HSV or VZV symptoms. Overall declines in CD4+ cell count were compared in clinically affected and unaffected men. RESULTS: During the study period, of 173 men reporting the first attack of HSV in at least a year, 75 had the first attack ever; none ever had zoster. Another 78 men reported the first attack of zoster. For HSV the mean CD4+ cell count declines were 36 in the 6 months before, 32 in the 6 months around, and 26 in the 6 months after the selected attack. Fo
