thesis
Pathogenesis of herpes simplex virus infections of the cornea
- Publication date
- 19 December 2002
- Publisher
- The identification of human herpes virus (HHV) infections can be traced back to ancient
Greece where Herpes simplex vims (HSV) infections in humans were first documented.
Hippocrates used the word "herpes", meaning to creep or crawl, to describe spreading skin
lesions. Although the vesicular nature of lesions associated with HSV infections had been
well documented in the late eighteenth century, person-to-person transmission of HSV was
only first recognised by Vidal in 18931 HSV was first isolated in 1919,2 but decades passed
before it was demonstrated that there were in fact two serotypes ofHSV, HSV-1 and HSV-
2.3 Over time, several other members of the HI-IV family have been identified. The latest
member, HHV-8, was only identified last decade.4 The major laboratory advances of the past
20 years have enabled a torrent of new insights into the biological properties ofHHV.