Genital infection with Herpesvirus hominis types 1 and 2 in children

Five cases of genital infections with Herpesvirus hominis (HVH) in 7- to 12-year-old girls and one case in a 3-year-old boy have been observed over a 3-year period. HVH type 1 was isolated from the genital lesions and mouth in both the boy, who had no oral lesions, and in an 8-year-old girl with associated gingivostomatitis. The boy showed serological evidence of a type 1 HVH reinfection and the girl showed evidence of a primary type 1 infection. Laboratory studies on the other four girls confirmed a primary type 2 HVH infection. On the basis of the virological, serological, and epidemiological information, it appears that genital infections with HVH in children can be either venereally or non-venereally transmitted. The physician should therefore use caution in his judgment as to the way in which a herpetic genital infection was acquired in his patient.