Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The British Journal of Ophthalmology logoLink to The British Journal of Ophthalmology
. 1990 Feb;74(2):114–116. doi: 10.1136/bjo.74.2.114

Ocular shedding of herpes simplex virus.

S B Kaye 1, N Madan 1, T C Dowd 1, C A Hart 1, K McCarthy 1, A Patterson 1
PMCID: PMC1042004  PMID: 2155653

Abstract

The presence, frequency, and relationship of ocular and oral shedding of herpes simplex virus to previous herpes keratitis was investigated. This was to determine if a history of herpes keratitis predisposes to shedding of the herpes simplex virus into the tear film and/or mouth. Swabs were collected from the eyes and mouth of two groups of patients thrice weekly over a two- to four-month period. Group A comprised nine patients with a history of herpes labialis, group B 15 patients with a history of herpes keratitis. Herpes simplex virus type 1 was isolated from 1.33% of mouth specimens but was not identified in any of the ocular specimens. There was no significant difference between groups A and B in terms of ocular or oral shedding. Oral shedding appears to be independent of a previous herpes keratitis. The tear film is an unlikely source of virus in persons either with no history of herpes keratitis or between attacks in those patients with a history of previous herpes keratitis.

Full text

PDF
114

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BUDDINGH G. J., SCHRUM D. I., LANIER J. C., GUIDRY D. J. Studies of the natural history of herpes simplex infections. Pediatrics. 1953 Jun;11(6):595–610. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Douglas R. G., Jr, Couch R. B. A prospective study of chronic herpes simplex virus infection and recurrent herpes labialis in humans. J Immunol. 1970 Feb;104(2):289–295. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Easty D. L., Shimeld C., Claoue C. M., Menage M. Herpes simplex virus isolation in chronic stromal keratitis: human and laboratory studies. Curr Eye Res. 1987 Jan;6(1):69–74. doi: 10.3109/02713688709020071. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hatherley L. I., Hayes K., Jack I. Herpes virus in an obstetric hospital. II: Asymptomatic virus excretion in staff members. Med J Aust. 1980 Sep 6;2(5):273–275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hill J. M., Dudley J. B., Shimomura Y., Kaufman H. E. Quantitation and kinetics of induced HSV-1 ocular shedding. Curr Eye Res. 1986 Mar;5(3):241–246. doi: 10.3109/02713688609020049. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Kaufman H. E., Brown D. C., Ellison E. M. Recurrent herpes in the rabbit and man. Science. 1967 Jun 23;156(3782):1628–1629. doi: 10.1126/science.156.3782.1628. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Spruance S. L., Overall J. C., Jr, Kern E. R., Krueger G. G., Pliam V., Miller W. The natural history of recurrent herpes simplex labialis: implications for antiviral therapy. N Engl J Med. 1977 Jul 14;297(2):69–75. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197707142970201. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Spruance S. L. Pathogenesis of herpes simplex labialis: excretion of virus in the oral cavity. J Clin Microbiol. 1984 May;19(5):675–679. doi: 10.1128/jcm.19.5.675-679.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Weathers D. R., Griffin J. W. Intraoral ulcerations of recurrent herpes simplex and recurrent aphthae: two distinct clinical entities. J Am Dent Assoc. 1970 Jul;81(1):81–87. doi: 10.14219/jada.archive.1970.0157. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The British Journal of Ophthalmology are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES