Herpes simplex virus in patients with aphthous ulcers in Bangkok.

Fifty-two paired sera and 40 single sera and swabs from the aphthous like ulcers of the tongue, gum, and buccal mucosa were collected from patients at a private clinic and from workers of canned fish packaging company in an attempt to isolate herpes simplex virus. Sixty-eight percent had positive HVH isolation with high ELISA antibody titers. Among 52 paired sera from patients, 68.4% had recurrent infections and 31.6% had primary infection.