Patient recognition of recrudescent herpes labialis: a clinical and virological assessment

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to ascertain how accurate the general public was at diagnosing the condition of recrudescent herpes labialis. Methods: An advertisement was placed in a local newspaper inviting patients to attend the Oral Medicine Clinic as soon as they thought they developed the clinically evident stage of herpes labialis. At the clinic, patients were examined to confirm the clinical presence of herpes labialis and also had a swab of the lesion(s) taken for virus culture. Virus culture was by the HEP-2 culture technique capable of detecting both herpes simplex Type 1 and herpes simplex Type 2. Patients also completed a detailed questionnaire concerning their knowledge of herpes labialis. Results: In total, 41 patients attended for screening. The findings were that all patients had clinical herpes labialis, and herpes simplex virus was isolated in 96% of cases. In contrast, in only about 50% of cases were patients aware that their herpes labialis was caused by a virus. Conclusions: The general public are very good at recognizing herpes labialis lesions but need to be given more information about their infectivity.