The Course of Untreated Recurrent Genital Herpes Simplex Infection in 27 Women

Abstract

GENITAL herpes simplex infection affects an unknown but ever increasing number of persons in the United States. Because of the lack of a national surveillance system, no reliable data are available to determine either the magnitude or the growth rate of this problem. However, reports from three different parts of the country indicate that genital herpes is diagnosed more frequently than gonorrhea in women visiting private gynecologists.1 2 3 Women are particularly burdened with this infection: in addition to the morbidity associated with recurring episodes, they may incur an increased risk of cervical cancer, 4 and they may transmit a severe or fatal . . .