PRIMARY HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS INFECTION OF THE ADULT

Abstract

INFECTION of man with the virus of herpes simplex commonly occurs in infancy, when it is usually manifested as an acute stomatitis.¹ According to the widely accepted concept of Burnet and Williams,² the primary infantile infection is followed by the latent persistence of virus in the tissues. At times the latent virus may be activated and induce mild recurrent disease in the form of vesicular lesions ("fever blisters") of the lips or other sites invaded during the primary infection. Persons subject to recurrent herpes are found to have measurable concentrations of specific neutralizing antibody in the serum.³ This seeming paradox has been attributed to the continuing antigenic stimulus arising from the presence of the latent virus. In the majority of adults (65 to 90%), serological evidence indicates previous infection with herpes simplex virus.⁴ Primary herpetic infection of the adult has been only rarely described. Essential to