title: Congenital Herpes Simplex Virus in the Newborn: A Diagnostic Dilemma.
abstract: Although congenital herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection is rare, it is associated with severe morbidity. We report a 36-week gestational age infant who presented with atypical skin lesions, presumably mitigated by exposure to maternal antiviral suppressive therapy. The initial absence of typical herpetic vesicles and lack of viral detection in skin lesions delayed the correct diagnosis, highlighting the importance of differentiating HSV from other neonatal rashes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, West Virginia University, Morgantown.
authors.forename: Rupena
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Purewal
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, West Virginia University, Morgantown.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Costello
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, West Virginia University, Morgantown.
authors.forename: Srikanth
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garlapati
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, West Virginia University, Morgantown.
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mitra
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, West Virginia University, Morgantown.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, West Virginia University, Morgantown.
authors.forename: Kathryn S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Moffett
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000151:congenital* / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; D018139:Simplexvirus