Activation of Latent Herpes Simplex by Trigeminal Sensory-Root Section

Abstract

IT IS now widely accepted that most adults are latently infected with the virus of herpes simplex.1 , 2 This latent infection may be activated by a large number of apparently dissimilar stimuli such as fever, exposure to sunlight, trauma and catamenia and may become manifest as vesicular lesions. The activating stimuli may produce such diverse and uncontrollable effects on the human organism, however, that the study of their relation to exacerbations of activity is difficult. The frequently made clinical observation that trigeminal sensory-root section for trigeminal neuralgia is often followed by facial herpes prompted the study of this phenomenon in some . . .