The Early Report of Herpetic Whitlow by Bahal-Dawlah Razi in 15th Century CE.

A herpetic whitlow is a lesion (whitlow) on a finger or thumb caused by herpes simplex virus. It is a painful infection that typically affects the fingers or thumbs. Occasionally infection occurs on the toes or on the nail cuticle. Symptoms of herpetic whitlow include tenderness, swelling and reddening of the infected finger skin, fever and swollen lymph nodes. Although, it is believed that the first recorded observations were in 1909 CE by H. G. Adamson, in the medieval period, Bah?' al-Dawlah N?rbakhsh? Razi (1501 CE) described herpetic whitlow, under the title of Dakhes in Khulasat al-Tajarib (The Summary of Experience), his book on medicine. Some of Baha al-Dawlah's descriptions and his etiology of Dakhes are based on humoral theories and cannot be concurred with current medical concepts, but more symptoms and clinical manifestations are consistent with current definitions. It seems the earliest description of herpetic whitlow in the medical history.

HSV1 latent transcription and non-coding RNA: A critical retrospective.

Virologists have invested great effort into understanding how the herpes simplex viruses and their relatives are maintained dormant over the lifespan of their host while maintaining the poise to remobilize on sporadic occasions. Piece by piece, our field has defined the tissues in play (the sensory ganglia), the transcriptional units (the latency-associated transcripts), and the responsive genomic region (the long repeats of the viral genomes). With time, the observed complexity of these features has compounded, and the totality of viral factors regulating latency are less obvious. In this review, we compose a comprehensive picture of the viral genetic elements suspected to be relevant to herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV1) latent transcription by conducting a critical analysis of about three decades of research. We describe these studies, which largely involved mutational analysis of the notable latency-associated transcripts (LATs), and more recently a series of viral miRNAs. We also intend to draw attention to the many other less characterized non-coding RNAs, and perhaps coding RNAs, that may be important for consideration when trying to disentangle the multitude of phenotypes of the many genetic modifications introduced into recombinant HSV1 strains.

Herpes (Shalbeket) in judaic sources: a synopsis of a book in preparation.

It is generally accepted that the earliest reference to Herpes is that of the Greek historian Herodotus and was used as a description of various "creeping skin diseases"--approx. 2000 years ago. Herpes, known in Hebrew as Shalbeket (boil, vesicle) is mentioned in the Book of Exodus as early as about 3500 years ago. This is a significant revelation in medical history that the earliest reference to Herpes (shalbeket) was mentioned 3500 years ago as Shalbukin (vesicles) in conjunction with Shekhin. These names, "boils," "creeping" are two descriptions of the external signs of Herpes; indicative of the ability of the ancients to identify diseases by their external appearances and to deal with their medical and sociological aspects.

Challenges in clinical virology (1958-1974): a personal viewpoint.

Some of the main challenges I encountered in clinical virology from 1958-1974 are described. In the earlier years there were two main areas of exploration, namely, neurological and respiratory infections. Later, tests for hepatitis and for rubella were developed and these diseases became of increasing importance.