PRIMARY HERPES SIMPLEX KERATITIS

Abstract

The widespread occurrence of herpetic infections, both latent and active, is well recognized ; it is estimated that 80 to 90 per cent of the adult population have had herpes and are carriers of the virus in a dormant state in the epithelium of the mouth, conjunctiva or sexual organs, and perhaps also in nerve tissue. Recurrent attacks of the disease may be precipitated by a wide range of conditions, such as exposure to sun or wind, fever, menstruation and trauma. Ocular herpetic infection is clearly endogenous in the majority of cases, but that it may occasionally be exogenous has been suggested by the theory of droplet contamination by the saliva of human carriers of the virus. Contaminated utensils, clothing, etc., may provide indirect sources of spread. These and other epidemiologic factors, not concerned in this paper, are discussed in the work of van Rooyen and Rhodes.¹ The findings of