Frequency of Acquisition of First-Episode Genital Infection With Herpes Simplex Virus From Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Source Contacts

Authors

Gregory J. MertzFollow
Ortwin Schmidt
John L. JourdenFollow
Mary E. Guinan, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Michael L. Remington, Division of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesFollow
Anita FahnlanderFollow
Carol WinterFollow
King K. Holmes, Center for AIDS and STDFollow
Lawrence Corey, Dept. of Laboratory Medicine/Medical TechnologyFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1985

Publication Title

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Volume

12

Issue

1

First page number:

33

Last page number:

39

Abstract

Sixty-six source contacts of index patients with first-episode genital infection caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV) were evaluated for evidence of current or past HSV infections. Forty-three source contacts (65%) reported a history consistent with previous recurrent HSV infection or were experiencing a first episode of genital herpes when initially examined. However, 60% of these 43 contacts were not aware that they had transmissible HSV infection. Twenty-nine (67%) of the 43 individuals had had recent sexual contact with an index patient when lesions were present. All of the remaining 23 source contacts, who were without a history of symptoms consistent with HSV infection, had detectable neutralizing antibody to HSV; HSV type 2 was isolated from the cervix of two of these asymptomatic source contacts. Efforts to identify individuals with undiagnosed genital herpes and to instruct these individuals concerning the risk of disease transmission in the presence of lesions are needed if the rate of transmission is to be decreased; however, methods designed to decrease the rate of transmission by asymptomatic individuals must also be evaluated.

Keywords

Herpes genitalis – Transmission; Herpes simplex virus; Patient education

Disciplines

Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications | Male Urogenital Diseases | Public Health | Virus Diseases

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or use interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the article. Publisher copyright policy allows author to archive post-print (author’s final manuscript). When post-print is available or publisher policy changes, the article will be deposited

Repository Citation

Mertz, G. J., Schmidt, O., Jourden, J. L., Guinan, M. E., Remington, M. L., Fahnlander, A., Winter, C., Holmes, K. K., Corey, L. (1985). Frequency of Acquisition of First-Episode Genital Infection With Herpes Simplex Virus From Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Source Contacts. Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 12(1), 33-39.