Herpesviridae
Herpesviridae
HMAS J1
Category="Herpesviruses"Category="Viruses"The Herpesviridae is a family of DNA viruses that cause diseases in humans and animals.
There are eight types of viruses in this family known to cause disease in humans. These viruses are (HHV stands for human herpesviruses):
Viral structure
The human herpes viruses all share some common properties. One shared property is virus structure - all herpesviruses are composed of relatively large double stranded linear DNA genomes encoding 100-200 genes encased within an icosahedral protein cage called the Capsid which is itself wrapped in a lipid bilayer membrane called the envelope. This particle is known as the virion. Following binding of viral envelope protein to cell membrane receptors, the virion is internalized and dismantled, allowing viral DNA to migrate to the cell nucleus. Within the nucleus, viral DNA undergoes limited replication and transcription of a small number of viral genes termed latent genes. In this fashion the virus can persist in the cell (and thus the host) indefinitely. Reactivation of latent viruses has been implicated in a number of organic diseases. While primary infection is often accompanied by a self-limited period of clinical illness, long-term latency is symptom-free. Following activation, the virus switches on transcription of multiple additional non-latent genes termed lytic genes that lead to enhanced replication and virus production. Often, lytic activation leads to cell death. Clinically, lytic activation is often accompanied by emergence of non-specific symptoms such as low grade fever, headache, sore throat, malaise, rash, etc as well as clinical signs such as swollen or tender lymph nodes and immunological findings such as reduced levels of natural killer cells.The best single source on Herpes I & II for laymen or health care providers is The Truth About Herpes by the late Dr. Sacks. Illustrations in many medical text books are so overblown as to be clinically useless. Many medical text books have inadequate discussion of herpes.
Taxonomy
The following genera are included here:- Subfamily Alphaherpesvirinae
- Subfamily Betaherpesvirinae
- Subfamily Gammaherpesvirinae
- Unassigned
- Genus Cercopithecine; type species: Cercopithecine herpesvirus 1
- Genus Ictalurivirus; type species: Ictalurid herpesvirus 1
See Also Jacob Breedlove
External links
The most comprehensive source for Herpes is IHMF - a forum all virtually all peer reviewed medical literature on herpes. IHMF contains algorithms, flow charts, best management practices, epidemiology, state of the art research and so forth. - International Herpes Management Forum
The leading court case on neonatal herpes is BYSTED from the British Columbia Court of Appeal, Canada.