A community study of ocular herpes simplex.

A recent epidemiologic study of ocular herpes simplex in 151 patients over a 33 year old period in Rochester, Minnesota has challenged some of the clinical and epidemiologic tenets about the disease. The incidence rate for new and recurrent cases and the prevalence rate was calculated and projected to the white U.S. population. The recurrence rate assessed by life table methods were determined for up to 20 years after the first episode and these rates rose following repeated episodes. Previous studies in the same community allow comparison of the incidence rates with other herpetic diseases. This community based study more accurately defines many of the features of the disease such as the prevalence among the sexes, the increasing age at presentation, the frequency of bilateral disease, the relationship of the initial disease to the future recurrence patterns, the frequency of lid, epithelial, stromal, and uveitis in an unselected community population, and the final visual outcome. This data estimates more accurately the morbidity and social impact of the condition.