Recrudescent herpes labialis during and prior to early pregnancy.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the experience of recrudescent herpes labialis (RHL) before and during early pregnancy.


METHODS
History of RHL prior to and during the first trimester of pregnancy was obtained from 3738 women attending at 10-15 weeks' gestation. The influence of age, ethnicity, socioeconomic group, smoking behavior, and alcohol intake on RHL was assessed.


RESULTS
1066 women (28.5%) reported a history of RHL lesions, with reduced incidence of RHL during pregnancy (0.111 lesions/subject per month) compared with outside pregnancy (0.19 lesions/subject per month) (P<0.0001). Those who did report lesions during pregnancy (n=296) experienced them at a higher monthly rate (0.41 lesions/subject per month) than before pregnancy (0.25 lesions/subject per month) (P<0.0001). RHL rate in early pregnancy was related solely to the previous rate of lesion recrudescence (P<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Pregnant women with a history of RHL report reduced incidence of RHL during pregnancy.
Scott
D
D
Department of Oral Biology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Moore
S
S
Ide
M
M
Coward
P
P
Baylis
R
R
Borkowska
E
E
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006560:Herpes Labialis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011295:Prenatal Care; D015995:Prevalence; D011336:Probability; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology