Burn-Wound Infection with Viruses

To the Editor: I enjoyed reading the article by Foley et al. on herpesvirus infection in burned patients. Recently I examined a 2 1/2-year-old girl who had typical herpes simplex on her right palm. The history given by the mother was that at six months of age the patient burned her right hand on an oven. Subsequently, the hand became infected. The infection regressed, and a few months later a vesicular eruption developed in the burn sites. In the past two years the patient has had an eruption eight or nine times. Initially, multiple sites were involved, and at times ….