Arnold School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics Lecture

Presented By Carola Otth, PhD

Graduate School Director and Professor Institute of Clinical Microbiology Austral University of Chile

“Neuropathogenesis by Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1” 

Wednesday, November 8, 2017 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm Discovery I Building Room 331

 

Abstract: Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV‐1) is characterized by establishing a persistent latent infection in neurons of its hosts for life. Currently, it is unclear whether a neuron, which undergoes viral reactivation and produces infectious particles, survives and resumes latency, loses functionality, or is killed. Evidence suggests that HSV‐1 establishes latency in the CNS in humans and that this condition would not be harmless. Reactivation of herpesviruses can increase risks for pathologies such as viral encephalitis, chronical neuralgia, or neurologic diseases associated with chronic cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer’s, especially in people whose immune system is compromised.