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It is well known that patients with symptomatic episodes of genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection can transmit the virus once they become asymptomatic. To gain an understanding of the natural history of asymptomatic shedding of genital HSV, these researchers followed 306 women after resolution of a documented first episode of genital HSV infection.
Eighty-six percent of the women were infected with HSV type 2, and 14 percent with type 1; the average follow-up was 63 weeks. Genital HSV cultures were obtained every four to six weeks while patients were asymptomatic, and when clinically evident HSV infection recurred.
Asymptomatic shedding of HSV was detected in 18 percent of patients with type 2 infection and 10 percent of those with typ…