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PRACTICE
A complication of primary herpetic gingivostomatitis
E. Thomas1
A complication of primary herpetic gingivostomatitis and its treatment is described in a 7-year-old child. A reminder to recommend lip barrier creams is advised to prevent this complication pain and bleeding when the lips are separated following adhesion.
INTRODUCTION
Primary herpetic gingivostomat itis (PHGS) is the most common clinical manifestation of primary herpes simplex virus infection occurring in 25-30% of infected children.1 Symptoms including discomfort on swallowing and excessive salivation, submandibular lymphadenopathy, oral and peri oral ulceration frequently occur.
Patients often seek advice from their GDP who will advise supportive management including maintaining uid intake to prevent deyhdration; analgesics and antipyretics to ease fever and discomfort; and the application of topical antiviral preparations to limit the duration of symptoms.2 It is not now common practice to advise the use of lip barrier cream to prevent adherence of the lips, pain and the bleeding often caused from their separation. This paper presents a rare complication from PHGS
2 implicated in genital infections,3 but this distinction is increasingly becoming less clear.4 Type 1 infection is common worldwide and increases in prevalence to 70-80% in adulthood.5
Primary HSV infection in childhood is usually subclinical,2 or it may cause a mild pharyngitis1 with PHGS typically affecting 25-30% of infected children.3
Transmission is...