Epidemiological, clinical and laboratory aids for the diagnosis of neonatal herpes -- an Australian perspective

Neonatal herpes is rare in Australia, possibly because of the older average age at pregnancy compared with other developed countries, low herpes simplex virus (HSV)-2 seroprevalence in the general community, low risk of HSV-2 acquisition during pregnancy and relatively high HSV-1 seroprevalence in adults. Guidelines on herpes management in pregnancy have been produced by the Australian Society for Infectious Diseases and endorsed by the Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. However, diagnosing and managing neonatal infection remains difficult. Until an effective strategy to prevent neonatal herpes is developed, our efforts should focus on improving early diagnosis of HSV disease in the neonate and developing more effective strategies to reduce early reactivation and long-term morbidity.