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Screening for Genital Herpes

Screening for Genital Herpes Opinion EDITORIAL What Is Not to Be Done Kenneth A. Katz, MD, MSc, MSCE Primum non nocere, the old maxim meant to guide physi- for life. In a serologic study, 15.7% of persons aged 14 to 49 years cian conduct, translates as “first, do no harm.” Physicians too in the United States tested positive for HSV-2 infection during the often stop following the maxim, as translated, halfway through. 2005-2008 period. What that figure means for the actual genital Physicians are trained to act. They are taught—and, in many herpes prevalence is unclear, however. It might overestimate cases,paid—toelicithistories,conductphysicalexaminations,or- prevalence, owing to relatively low specificity of serologic tests der tests, render diagnoses, prescribe treatments, perform pro- and lack of confirmation in the study by more specific Western cedures, and screen for disease. (Screening means checking for blot testing. Or it might be an underestimate because the study the presence of a disease in a failed to account for genital HSV-1 infections. Determining HSV-1 person who has no signs or seroprevalence would not help clarify genital herpes prevalence symptoms suggestive of that becausemostHSV-1infectionsareoral,andserologictestscannot Related articles at jama.com disease; testing, by contrast, determine the anatomic site of infection. The importance of means performing http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png JAMA Dermatology American Medical Association

Screening for Genital Herpes

JAMA Dermatology , Volume 153 (3) – Mar 20, 2017

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References (7)

Publisher
American Medical Association
Copyright
Copyright 2016 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
ISSN
2168-6068
eISSN
2168-6084
DOI
10.1001/jamadermatol.2016.5546
pmid
27997634
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Opinion EDITORIAL What Is Not to Be Done Kenneth A. Katz, MD, MSc, MSCE Primum non nocere, the old maxim meant to guide physi- for life. In a serologic study, 15.7% of persons aged 14 to 49 years cian conduct, translates as “first, do no harm.” Physicians too in the United States tested positive for HSV-2 infection during the often stop following the maxim, as translated, halfway through. 2005-2008 period. What that figure means for the actual genital Physicians are trained to act. They are taught—and, in many herpes prevalence is unclear, however. It might overestimate cases,paid—toelicithistories,conductphysicalexaminations,or- prevalence, owing to relatively low specificity of serologic tests der tests, render diagnoses, prescribe treatments, perform pro- and lack of confirmation in the study by more specific Western cedures, and screen for disease. (Screening means checking for blot testing. Or it might be an underestimate because the study the presence of a disease in a failed to account for genital HSV-1 infections. Determining HSV-1 person who has no signs or seroprevalence would not help clarify genital herpes prevalence symptoms suggestive of that becausemostHSV-1infectionsareoral,andserologictestscannot Related articles at jama.com disease; testing, by contrast, determine the anatomic site of infection. The importance of means performing

Journal

JAMA DermatologyAmerican Medical Association

Published: Mar 20, 2017

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