Herpes simplex virus type 1 in saliva of patients with vestibular neuronitis: a preliminary study.

Objectives: Vestibular neuronitis (VN) is an inflammatory disease of the vestibular nerve, presumably caused by reactivation of the herpes simplex virus type l (HSV-1). We hypothesized that HSV-1 might be detected in saliva of patients with VN due to migration of the reactivated virus from the vestibular ganglia to the parotid gland.

Methods: Twenty-one patients with VN and 15 healthy controls participated.

Presence of viremia in patients with primary herpetic gingivostomatitis.

Background: Presence of viremia during primary herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections has been previously investigated, but the findings for immunocompetent individuals have only rarely been reported.

Methods: With use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we evaluated blood samples obtained from children with primary herpes simplex virus (HSV) gingivostomatitis for viremia.

Results: There were 16 girls and 16 boys, aged 9-44 months (median age, 19 months).