Isolation of herpes simplex virus type 1 from gastric contents of a patient with acute pancreatitis.
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) was isolated from the gastric contents of a young man with acute idiopathic pancreatitis. Although the patient had a marked (eightfold) rise in serum complement fixing antibody titer to HSV-1, there was no evidence of primary infection. The source of the HSV-1 may have been reactivation in the oral or pharyngeal mucous membranes, with swallowing of the virus. HSV-1 is normally quite labile in acid media (less than five minutes at pH less than or equal to 3), but because the patient was receiving cimetidine, lack of gastric acid may have allowed prolonged survival of the virus.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000382:microbiology*; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013270:Stomach / Q000382:microbiology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral