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Edward J. Young, MD
Baylor College of Medicine

JAMA. 1985;254(24):3422.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Rubin et al¹ reported a case of fatal fulminant hepatitis caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 in a previously healthy young woman. It may not be coincidental that the patient had been taking oral contraceptives. We reported a similar case of disseminated HSV-2 infection in a young woman during the third trimester of pregnancy.² Severe hepatitis was also a prominent feature of this patient's illness.

Other cases of virus dissemination during pregnancy have generally been associated with primary herpesvirus infection.³ Progesterone has been reported to enhance the growth of HSV-2 in experimental animals,⁴ and pregnant mice are more susceptible to the lethal effects of genital herpes than nonpregnant littermates.⁵

It is conceivable that pseudopregnancy induced by oral contraceptives produces immunosuppression sufficient to permit dissemination of virus in a host who has had no prior immunity to either HSV-1 or HSV-2. . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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