Genital herpes diagnoses with connecting pharmacological prescriptions among enrollees 18 years and older in a large employer-based healthcare claims data, United States, 2019-2023

Objectives: Genital herpes (GH) is caused by herpes simplex type 1 and type 2. GH affects 500 million people worldwide and is often managed with pharmaceutical therapies, counseling, and education. We examined diagnosed GH among individuals with employer-sponsored insurance in the United States from 2019-2023. Our analysis aims to describe: 1) demographics of employer-sponsored insurance enrollees diagnosed with GH between 2019 – 2023, and 2) prescription patterns for the treatment of GH and assess whether these prescriptions are aligned with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Sexually Transmitted Infections Treatment Guidelines, 2015 and 2021. Methods: We analyzed 2019-2023 MarketScan® database containing commercially insured healthcare claims to characterize the demographics, treatment patterns of prescribers, and alignment to national guidelines. Episodes of care were identified by GH ICD-10 codes and national drug codes for drug therapy claims within 90-day of diagnosis date. Alignment with 2015/2021 CDC treatment guidelines was determined using antiviral name, dose, days’ supply, and quantity dispensed. Results: A total of 178,531 in 27,319,749 enrollees with 202,666 episodes of diagnosed GH were identified in the 5-year span. Most of the diagnoses were in the South and enrollees aged 18-to-44 years. Among diagnosed GH episodes with available prescription data, 63.6% - 65.1% of the prescriptions were aligned with treatment guidelines. Valacyclovir was prescribed most often (76.3%-81.4%), with 64.5%-68.5% of those aligned with the 2015/2021 CDC treatment guidelines. Conclusions: Claims data suggest GH morbidity is highest in 18-34 years old, valacyclovir was the most common drug prescribed, and most prescriptions aligned with CDC recommendations.