title: Grappling with herpes: herpes gladiatorum.
abstract: Initial reports of herpes gladiatorum, a skin infection of wrestlers caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV), focused on case histories and clinical presentations of this disease. To more adequately address broader epidemiologic questions concerning this skin infection, we surveyed members of four southeastern college wrestling teams, sampled high school and college athletic trainers nationwide, and obtained serum specimens from members of one college wrestling team for HSV antibody studies. Nine of 48 (18.8%) college wrestlers in the southeastern athletic conference reported histories of herpes gladiatorum. Wrestlers with a prior history of oral HSV infection (cold sores) were less likely to report HSV skin infection than wrestlers without cold sores (RR = 0.25; 95% C.I. 0.03 to 1.8), while wrestlers with exposure to opponents with cutaneous HSV lesions were at high risk to develop herpes gladiatorum (RR = 9.4; 95% C.I. 2.2 to 40.0). The national survey of athletic trainers indicated that 7.6% of college wrestlers and 2.6% of high school wrestlers had HSV skin infection during the 1984-85 season. Herpes gladiatorum is a common problem among college wrestlers, and morbidity associated with this skin disease can be significant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of New Mexico Medical Center, Albuquerque 87131.
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kodsi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Levandowski
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Nahmias
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000276:immunology; D012874:Skin Diseases, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D013177:Sports; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014952:Wrestling
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral