Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2004 Jan;17(1):1-13.
doi: 10.1128/CMR.17.1.1-13.2004.

Neonatal herpes simplex infection

David W Kimberlin  1
Affiliations
Review

Neonatal herpes simplex infection

David W Kimberlin. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2004 Jan.

Abstract

Tremendous advances have occurred over the past 30 years in the diagnosis and management of neonatal herpes simplex virus (HSV) disease. Mortality in patients with disseminated disease has decreased from 85 to 29%, and that in patients with central nervous system (CNS) disease has decreased from 50 to 4%. Morbidity has been improved more modestly: the proportion of patients with disseminated disease who are developing normally at 1 year has increased from 50 to 83%. While the proportion of patients with neurologic morbidity following CNS disease has remained essentially unchanged over the past three decades, the total number of patients who are developing normally following HSV CNS disease has increased due to the improved survival. Although additional therapeutic advances in the future are possible, more immediate methods for further improvements in outcome for patients with this potentially devastating disease lie in an enhanced awareness of neonatal HSV infection and disease. A thorough understanding of the biology and natural history of HSV in the gravid woman and the neonate provides the basis for such an index of suspicion and is provided in this article.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Mortality in patients with disseminated neonatal HSV disease. Reprinted from reference with permission of the publisher.
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
Mortality in patients with CNS neonatal HSV disease. Reprinted from reference with permission of the publisher.
FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.
Morbidity among patients with known outcomes after 12 months of life. ACV, acyclovir. Reprinted from reference with permission of the publisher.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Academy of Pediatrics. 2000. Herpes simplex, p. 309-318. In L. K. Pickering (ed.), 2000 Red Book: report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases, 25th ed. American Academy of Pediatrics, Elk Grove Village, Ill.
    1. Anderson, N. E., K. F. Powell, and M. C. Croxson. 1993. A polymerase chain reaction assay of cerebrospinal fluid in patients with suspected herpes simplex encephalitis. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 56:520-525. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anonymous. 2000. ACOG practice bulletin. Management of herpes in pregnancy, no. 8, October 1999. Clinical management guidelines for obstetrician-gynecologists. Int. J. Gynaecol. Obstet. 68:165-173. - PubMed
    1. Arvin, A. M., P. A. Hensleigh, C. G. Prober, D. S. Au, L. L. Yasukawa, A. E. Wittek, P. E. Palumbo, S. G. Paryani, and A. S. Yeager. 1986. Failure of antepartum maternal cultures to predict the infant's risk of exposure to herpes simplex virus at delivery. N. Engl. J. Med. 315:796-800. - PubMed
    1. Arvin, A. M., A. S. Yeager, F. W. Bruhn, and M. Grossman. 1982. Neonatal herpes simplex infection in the absence of mucocutaneous lesions. J. Pediatr. 100:715-721. - PubMed

Publication types