[Authors' experience with medical therapy of herpes genitalis in pregnancy]. / Nostra esperienza nella terapia medica dell'Herpes genitalis in gravidanza.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal risk in herpes infections is very high: in the USA it is 1:2,000, in Japan 1:15,000 and in England 1:65,000. These differences seem to be due mostly to the different risk factors associated to the mother infection. The best strategy to cure herpes infection is to examine every patient during pregnancy and to identify the high risk ones. METHODS: In this study, 1,860 pregnant women have been submitted to a colposcopic and cytologic screening for the research of HSV. RESULTS: HSV was found in twenty (1.07%) women. Two groups have been made: the first with 14 HSV positive women at 3-6 months of pregnancy and second with 6 HSV positive women at eight months of pregnancy. Both groups were treated with acyclovir per os. The 14 women of the first group underwent vaginal delivery. The women of the second group underwent cesarean section. Only in 1 case a neonatal infection has been observed.

[Vulvo-vaginal HPV infection: immunological aspects]. / Infezione vulvo-vaginale da HPV: aspetti immunologici.

All phases of HPV infection are under the control of the immunitary system which is probably inhibited by the virus itself. We studied 65 patients (range 22-55 year). They presented an HPV vulvovaginal infection not healed after common therapy. The aim of our study was to verify the changes occurring in the immune system during HPV vulvo-vaginal infection. Using the immunohistochemical method we evaluated the number of T4,T8 and NK lymphocytes inside the lesion. Moreover we measured the immunitary cells of the hematic compartment. Inside the lesion we noted a reduction of the immune system in 69.23% of cases, while in the hematic compartment it was reduced only in 6.15% of cases. These data strongly suggested that the evaluation of the immunitary state, before starting therapy, is important in deciding when it would be useful to associate immunostimulating substances at the common treatment of vulvo-vaginal infection.