Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Virol. Mar 25, 2024; 13(1): 89934
Published online Mar 25, 2024. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v13.i1.89934
Herpes simplex keratitis: A brief clinical overview
Mutali Musa, Ehimare Enaholo, Gladness Aluyi-Osa, George Nnamdi Atuanya, Leopoldo Spadea, Carlo Salati, Marco Zeppieri
Mutali Musa, George Nnamdi Atuanya, Department of Optometry, University of Benin, Benin 300283, Nigeria
Mutali Musa, Ehimare Enaholo, Gladness Aluyi-Osa, Department of Ophthalmology, Africa Eye Laser Centre, Km 7, Benin 300105, Nigeria
Ehimare Enaholo, Department of Ophthalmology, Centre for Sight Africa, Nkpor 434101, Nigeria
Leopoldo Spadea, Eye Clinic, Policlinico Umberto I, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome 00142, Italy
Carlo Salati, Marco Zeppieri, Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Udine, Udine 33100, Italy
Author contributions: Musa M wrote the outline, did the research, wrote the draft, wrote the paper, and provided the final approval of the version of the article; Enaholo E wrote the outline, assisted in the writing, research, and revisions of the manuscript; Aluyi-Osa G assisted in the research and writing, assisted in the draft, and the final version of the manuscript; Atuanya GN assisted in the research and writing, assisted in the draft, and the final version of the manuscript; Spadea L assisted in the writing, drafting, editing and making critical revisions of the manuscript; Salati C assisted in the writing, drafting, editing and making critical revisions of the manuscript; Zeppieri M assisted in the conception and design of the study, writing, outline, final approval of the version of the article to be published and completed the English and scientific editing.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Marco Zeppieri, BSc, MD, PhD, Doctor, Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Udine, p.le S. Maria della Misericordia 15, Udine 33100, Italy. markzeppieri@hotmail.com
Received: November 17, 2023
Peer-review started: November 17, 2023
First decision: December 26, 2023
Revised: December 28, 2023
Accepted: January 22, 2024
Article in press: January 22, 2024
Published online: March 25, 2024
Processing time: 115 Days and 2.3 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Our minireview is based on herpes simplex keratitis. This type of corneal viral infection is caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV), which can affect several tissues, including the cornea and deeper uvea. Its ability to remain dormant for extended periods and reactivate with serious morbid ocular presentation makes it an important pathogen to be reviewed. The body’s immune response to HSV is another potential cause of herpes simplex keratitis. Clinical management is short-term and long-term to prevent reactivation. Clinicians should be informed about triggers and advised on measures to minimize the risk of reactivation.