Genital infection with type 2 Herpes virus hominis. A commonly occurring venereal disease.

Although genital herpetic infections in males and females have been recorded for more than two centuries (Hutfield, 1966), their venereal mode of transmission has not been universally accepted (Diddle, Williamson, and Gardner, 1963; Yen, Reagan, and Rosenthal, 1965; Hutfield, Wasley, and Gray, 1967). Interest in genital herpetic infections has been reawakened as a result of recent findings indicating that most strains of Herpes virus hominis (HVH) recovered from the genitalia differ antigenically and biologically from HVH strains commonly infecting non-genital sites (Dowdle, Nahmias, Harwell, and Pauls, 1967; Schneweis, 1967; Rawls, Laurel, Melnick, Glicksman, and Kaufman, 1968a; Nahmias and Dowdle, 1968). The importance of genital HVH in the mother as the source ofneonatal herpes (Nahmias, Josey, and Naib, 1967a) and the possible relation of such infections to cervical cancer (Naib, Nahmias, and Josey, 1966; Josey, Nahmias, and Naib, 1968; Rawls, Tompkins, Figueroa, and Melnick, 1968b; Naib, Nahmias, Josey, and Kramer, 1969) have further stimulated clinical, epidemiological and laboratory investigations. In this report we present studies providing further support for the venereal mode of transmission of genital HVH infection. Studies are also presented on patients attending a venereal disease clinic and a general municipal hospital which point to the common occurrence of such infections in males and females and emphasize their frequent prevalence in teenagers. In addition, further