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To the Editor: Direct inoculation of herpes simplex virus has been well described. It must be differentiated from other conditions, particularly herpes zoster. We describe a case of primary herpes simplex infection on the side of the neck acquired from a hickey (or "love bite").
A 22-year-old healthy white man who was referred to our hospital had a five-day history of redness, swelling, and vesicles on the right side of the neck at the site of a hickey given by his girlfriend, who had active fever blisters. The skin lesion enlarged despite therapy with oral antibiotics. The patient said he had no history of herpes simplex infection but that he had had varicella as a child.
A physical examination of the neck at the site of the hickey revealed an area 3 to 4 cm in diameter in which there were several discrete...