Herpes Simplex Viruses

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections of humans were first documented in ancient Greece. Greek scholars, particularly Hippocrates, used the word "herpes," meaning to creep or crawl, to describe spreading lesions. The classification now in use came into being in the late eighteenth century, and although the vesicular nature of lesions associated with herpetic infections was previously well characterized, it was not until 1893 that Vidal specifically recognized person-to-person transmission of HSV infections.