INCIDENCE OF HERPESVIRUS HOMINIS ANTIBODY IN POPULATION

Sera from 1029 individuals, 864 from Edinburgh and 165 from Oxford, were examined for the presence of antibodies to Herpesvirus hominis. The results of the smaller Oxford survey did not reveal a higher incidence of antibody where direct comparison was possible with those from Edinburgh. The incidence of both complement-fixing and neutralizing antibodies in the sera from 710 people in Edinburgh with ages varying from 1 month to 92 years was compared with the more complete of the earlier surveys, and in particular with that of Holzel et al. in Manchester, England. This comparison revealed a lower incidence of antibody in people under 25 in Edinburgh in 1965. Results obtained with sera from medical students in Oxford and Edinburgh and from nurses in Edinburgh were in agreement with those of previous surveys. The low incidence of antibody in these young people emphasized the possible occupational risk of infection from patients and that primary herpetic infection might be encountered more frequently than before in teenagers and young adults.