Genital herpes simplex virus infection and gonorrhoea. Association and analogies.

The association of genital herpetic infections with gonorrhoea and other venereal diseases has been noted since the latter part of the 19th century (Diday and Doyon, 1886). Recently, Beilby, Cameron, Catterall, and Davidson (1968) in England have suggested the possibility that gonorrhoeal infection may trigger recurrences of herpetic cervicitis. To test this hypothesis, the present study was conducted in a population ofwomen attending a venereal disease clinic in Atlanta, Georgia. Cultures were obtained to permit the detection of both N. gonorrhoeae and genital herpes simplex virus. Serological tests, to determine whether a genital herpetic infection was primary or recurrent, were also performed. In order to evaluate the prevalence of cervical cellular atypia in women attending a venereal disease clinic, Papanicolaou cervicovaginal smears were also obtained.