BRIEF REPORTS Neonatal Herpes Simplex

Of the two virologically distinct types of Herpes simplex viruses i.e., types 1 and 2, Herpes simplex virus-2 [HSV-2] is the predominant cause of neonatal disease, and is almost always acquired from an infected maternal genital tract. Perinatally transmitted HSV-2 infection in the neonate may have either a local-ized, disseminated or encephalitic pat-tern of presentation. The encephalitic from often remain undiagnosed as 40-60 % of neonates with central nervous system infection have no skin lesion at the time of clinical presentation(l). The outcome of the disease is largely depen-dent on a prompt diagnosis, which is difficult to make and adequate treat-ment, which is expensive. We are re-porting the management of a neonate with HSV-2 encephalitis, which to our knowledge has not been documented earlier in Indian pediatric literature. Case Report A 21 day term vaginally delivered female neonate with a birth weight of 2700 g was referred as a case of non-responsive pyogenic meningitis wit