Table 2.
Pooled mean estimates for HSV-2 seroprevalence among general populations in Europe.
| Population classification | Outcome measures |
Sample size |
HSV-2 seroprevalence (%) |
Pooled mean HSV-2 seroprevalence |
Heterogeneity measures |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total n | Total N | Range | Median | Mean (%) (95% CI) |
Qa (p-value) | I2b (%) (95% CI) |
Prediction intervalc (%) | |
| European countries | ||||||||
| Belgium | 18 | 3477 | 7.0–27.7 | 12.5 | 13.3 (10.8–15.9) | 74.7 (p < 0.001) | 77.2 (64.4–85.5) | 4.7–25.2 |
| Bulgaria | 12 | 2508 | 2.0–40.0 | 20.0 | 19.1 (12.7–26.4) | 182.1 (p < 0.001) | 94.0 (91.2–95.9) | 0.9–51.3 |
| Croatia | 17 | 2651 | 0.0–32.0 | 8.0 | 9.7 (6.1–14.0) | 153.2 (p < 0.001) | 89.6 (84.9–92.8) | 0.0–32.2 |
| Czech Republic | 12 | 2570 | 2.0–8.5 | 4.0 | 4.8 (3.5–6.4) | 30.9 (p = 0.001) | 64.4 (33.9–80.8) | 1.2–10.5 |
| Estonia | 20 | 3049 | 1.8–34.0 | 17.9 | 16.5 (12.1–21.4) | 222.2 (p < 0.001) | 91.4 (88.2–93.8) | 1.4–42.4 |
| Finland | 32 | 8089 | 0.5–51.7 | 16.5 | 16.0 (12.3–20.0) | 556.0 (p < 0.001) | 94.4 (93.0–95.5) | 1.0–42.6 |
| France | 12 | 9389 | 12.5–28.3 | 17.1 | 17.3 (15.4–19.2) | 35.0 (p < 0.001) | 68.6 (42.8–82.7) | 11.2–24.4 |
| Germany | 65 | 23,609 | 0.0–25.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 (10.1–13.0) | 673.1 (p < 0.001) | 90.5 (88.6–92.1) | 2.7–25.2 |
| Hungary | 17 | 3012 | 0.0–12.2 | 2.7 | 3.6 (2.0–5.5) | 103.5 (p < 0.001) | 84.5 (76.6–89.8) | 0.0–14.2 |
| Israel | 29 | 4126 | 0.0–33.1 | 7.7 | 9.5 (7.1–12.2) | 218.2 (p < 0.001) | 87.2 (82.7–90.5) | 0.6–26.1 |
| Italy | 60 | 4706 | 0.0–95.0 | 13.0 | 17.3 (12.1–23.1) | 2333.4 (p < 0.001) | 97.5 (97.1–97.8) | 0.0–67.7 |
| Netherlands | 59 | 10,596 | 1.0–77.0 | 11.2 | 14.0 (10.9–17.4) | 652.5 (p < 0.001) | 91.1 (89.3–92.6) | 0.0–43.5 |
| Norway | 22 | 2775 | 0.0–37.0 | 13.4 | 12.4 (8.5–16.9) | 165.7 (p < 0.001) | 87.3 (82.1–91.0) | 0.1–36.7 |
| Poland | 18 | 2871 | 4.0–12.9 | 8.0 | 8.3 (7.0–9.7) | 28.9 (p = 0.035) | 41.2 (0.0–66.4) | 4.5–13.0 |
| Romania | 12 | 1070 | 0.0–38.3 | 14.6 | 13.1 (7.4–20.1) | 73.7 (p < 0.001) | 85.1 (75.6–90.9) | 0.0–44.7 |
| Russian Federation | 18 | 4829 | 1.4–41.3 | 16.7 | 14.8 (9.6–20.8) | 461.5 (p < 0.001) | 96.3 (95.2–97.2) | 0.0–46.8 |
| Spain | 24 | 5519 | 0.0–40.8 | 4.0 | 6.3 (3.2–10.3) | 532.5 (p < 0.001) | 95.7 (94.5–96.6) | 0.0–34.9 |
| Sweden | 53 | 12,103 | 0.9–40.0 | 18.0 | 18.2 (15.4–21.3) | 967.2 (p < 0.001) | 94.6 (93.6–95.5) | 2.6–43.1 |
| Switzerland | 13 | 4150 | 10.6–31.8 | 18.1 | 19.1 (16.4–21.9) | 43.0 (p < 0.001) | 72.1 (51.3–84.1) | 10.2–29.9 |
| Turkey | 32 | 4674 | 2.1–62.9 | 8.2 | 13.5 (8.2–19.8) | 1130.1 (p < 0.001) | 97.3 (96.7–97.7) | 0.0–58.0 |
| UK | 46 | 25,381 | 0.0–33.9 | 6.2 | 6.7 (5.3–8.2) | 614.8 (p < 0.001) | 92.7 (91.1–94.0) | 0.4–19.0 |
| Otherd | 27 | 13,128 | 3.4–26.0 | 11.3 | 10.8 (8.6–13.1) | 344.1 (p < 0.001) | 92.4 (90.1–94.2) | 2.1–24.8 |
| European subregion/country | ||||||||
| Eastern Europe | 90 | 16,897 | 0.0–41.3 | 8.5 | 9.6 (7.8–11.5) | 1546.0 (p < 0.001) | 94.2 (93.4–95.0) | 0.0–32.2 |
| Southern Europe | 121 | 22,635 | 0.0–95.0 | 9.4 | 12.2 (9.6–15.1) | 3559.1 (p < 0.001) | 96.6 (96.3–96.9) | 0.0–50.8 |
| Western Europe | 174 | 51,372 | 0.0–77.0 | 12.5 | 13.2 (12.0–14.4) | 1764.9 (p < 0.001) | 90.2 (89.0–91.2) | 2.2–30.8 |
| Northern Europe | 176 | 52,064 | 0.0–51.7 | 14.0 | 13.5 (12.0–15.1) | 4421.1 (p < 0.001) | 96.0 (95.7–96.4) | 0.5–37.9 |
| Israel, Turkey, and mixed countries | 65 | 11,989 | 0.0–62.9 | 8.1 | 11.3 (8.5–14.4) | 1433.3 (p < 0.001) | 95.5 (94.8–96.1) | 0.0–42.5 |
| Age group | ||||||||
| <20 years | 45 | 7346 | 0.0–78.6 | 4.5 | 5.9 (3.5–8.8) | 842.6 (p < 0.001) | 94.8 (93.7–95.6) | 0.0–32.6 |
| 20–29 years | 109 | 23,057 | 1.4–67.8 | 9.0 | 10.7 (9.2–12.4) | 1407.1 (p < 0.001) | 92.3 (91.2–93.3) | 0.4–30.7 |
| 30–39 years | 92 | 13,291 | 0.0–68.4 | 14.2 | 15.0 (12.6–17.5) | 1410.2 (p < 0.001) | 93.5 (92.6–94.4) | 0.4–42.2 |
| 40–49 years | 34 | 5939 | 2.6–85.7 | 15.0 | 15.8 (11.3–20.8) | 815.8 (p < 0.001) | 96.0 (95.1–96.7) | 0.0–50.7 |
| 50–59 years | 19 | 3814 | 4.6–29.6 | 14.2 | 13.3 (10.5–16.3) | 117.1 (p < 0.001) | 84.6 (77.3–89.6) | 3.3–28.2 |
| ≥60 years | 21 | 3192 | 0.0–60.9 | 12.3 | 15.5 (9.7–22.3) | 255.8 (p < 0.001) | 92.2 (89.4–94.2) | 0.0–53.0 |
| Mixed | 306 | 98,318 | 0.0–95.0 | 11.9 | 12.7 (11.4–14.0) | 7650.8 (p < 0.001) | 96.0 (95.8–96.3) | 0.0–39.3 |
| Year of data collection category | ||||||||
| <1995 | 166 | 46,557 | 0.0–85.7 | 11.2 | 12.6 (10.7–14.6) | 5487.4 (p < 0.001) | 97.0 (96.7–97.2) | 0.0–44.8 |
| 1995–2005 | 373 | 98,318 | 0.0–95.0 | 11.9 | 12.9 (11.8–14.0) | 6746.2 (p < 0.001) | 94.5 (94.1–94.8) | 0.2–37.7 |
| >2005 | 87 | 16,750 | 0.0–41.3 | 8.8 | 9.8 (8.2–11.6) | 884.8 (p < 0.001) | 90.3 (88.6–91.7) | 0.2–29.2 |
| Year of publication category | ||||||||
| <2000 | 91 | 24,236 | 0.0–85.7 | 14.0 | 15.5 (12.3–18.9) | 4109.4 (p < 0.001) | 97.8 (97.6–98.0) | 0.0–54.8 |
| 2000–2010 | 383 | 94,471 | 0.0–95.0 | 11.0 | 12.0 (11.0–13.1) | 6442.2 (p < 0.001) | 94.1 (93.7–94.4) | 0.1–36.4 |
| >2010 | 152 | 36,250 | 0.0–43.6 | 10.9 | 11.3 (9.9–12.9) | 2328.2 (p < 0.001) | 93.5 (92.8–94.2) | 0.3–32.0 |
| All studies | 626 | 154,957 | 0.0–95.0 | 11.3 | 12.4 (11.5–13.3) | 13,127.0 (p < 0.001) | 95.2 (95.0–95.5) | 0.0–38.8 |
Abbreviations: CI = Confidence interval, HSV-2 = Herpes simplex virus type 2, UK = United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
a
Q: The Cochran's Q statistic is a measure assessing the existence of heterogeneity in seroprevalence.
b
I2: A measure that assesses the magnitude of between-study variation that is due to actual differences in seroprevalence across studies, rather than sampling variation.
c
Prediction interval: A measure that estimates the distribution (95% interval) of true seroprevalence around the estimated mean.
d
Other countries: Denmark, Greece, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and multi-country studies.