Herpes Simplex Viruses in Children

Herpes viruses are DNA viruses that coevolved together with their hosts millions of years ago. Depending on the type of cells into which the virus enters, herpes virus leads to two types of infection, namely, productive infection and latent infection. While host cell lysis occurs following the formation of new complete virus particles in productive infection, lytic viral gene expression is inhibited by the host cell which enables the preservation of the viral genome for a very long time in latent infection. It is a general characteristic feature of herpes viruses that latent infection turns into lytic infection, in which the virus genome replicates and recurs. Moreover, they are also different in terms of the cell receptors they use for adhesion to host cells, the host cells they are inclined to, the spread and recurrence patterns of reinfections, and the infection sites they choose to remain latent (Cohen, Elsevier Saunders, Philadelphia, 2015, Hengel, Springer Science & Business Media, Berlin, 2009). In this chapter, a brief overview of Herpesviruses and general characteristics of Herpes Simplex virus types 1 and 2, and their pediatric otolaryngological infections are discussed.