Association of Antigenic Type of Herpesvirus Hominis with Site of Viral Recovery

Summary Ninety-one H. hominis strains isolated from a variety of sites representing various clinical manifestations were tested by the micro-quantal neutralization technique against antisera determined previously to represent two antigenic types of herpesvirus. The virus isolates could be divided into two distinct groups each with a distribution similar to that of a control virus representing type 1 or type 2. All 42 strains identified as type 2 were isolated from herpetic infections related directly or indirectly to involvement of the adult genital tract. The remaining 49 strains, identified as type 1, represented all other sites and included viruses associated with meningoencephalitis, eczema herpeticum, dermatitis (other than on thigh and buttocks), gingivostomatitis, asymptomatic herpes and herpes labialis. The association of a particular antigenic type of herpesvirus to the genital tract, or closely related sites, is of particular biologic and epidemiologic interest and suggests a specific tropism of a virus type.