Overwhelming disseminated herpes simplex virus type 2 infection in a patient with severe burn injury: case report and literature review

J Burn Care Res. 2010 May-Jun;31(3):492-8. doi: 10.1097/BCR.0b013e3181db51cb.

Abstract

Viral-mediated organ disease is an infrequent but recognized complication of severe burn injury. This occurs primarily because of herpes family viruses such as cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus (HSV), and Epstein-Barr virus given their ability to establish lifelong latency after primary infection and reactivate in the setting of altered immune function. In this report, we describe a severely burned patient who succumbed to fulminant HSV-2 pneumonitis and hepatitis, and summarize the existing literature on HSV infections in this unique patient population. To our knowledge, this is the first report of disseminated visceral HSV-2 infection in a burn patient in the medical literature.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Burns / complications*
  • Burns / virology
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Hepatitis, Viral, Human / etiology
  • Hepatitis, Viral, Human / virology*
  • Herpes Simplex / etiology*
  • Herpes Simplex / transmission
  • Herpesvirus 2, Human*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Pneumonia, Viral / etiology*
  • Risk Factors