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An Bras Dermatol 2021 May 18. Epub 2021 May 18.

Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.

Herpetic whitlow is a viral infection of the fingers caused by the herpes simplex virus. The disease has a bimodal age distribution, affecting children under 10 years of age and young adults between 20 and 30 years old. It can be easily mistaken for panaritium or bacterial cellulitis. Read More

Int J Dermatol 2021 Mar 1. Epub 2021 Mar 1.

Department of Dermatology, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi, India.

Dermatol Online J 2021 Jan 15;27(1). Epub 2021 Jan 15.

Department of Internal Medicine, Groupe Hospitalier de la Haute-Saône, Vesoul.

Paronychia is usually caused by bacterial infections. Herpetic whitlow is an acute infection of the fingers or toes caused by herpes simplex viruses and it typically presents with vesicles. We report the case of a 78-year-old woman with gingivostomatitis and atypical paronychia in several fingers without blisters. Read More

Infez Med 2020 Sep;28(3):450-452

Department of Traditional Pharmacy, School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Department of History of Medicine, School of Persian Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

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. Read More

CMAJ 2020 Aug;192(35):E1010

Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine (Ismail), University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta; Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine (Gold), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.

Handchir Mikrochir Plast Chir 2020 Aug 6. Epub 2020 Aug 6.

Folia Med (Plovdiv) 2019 09;61(3):478-480

Medical University, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Background: Herpetic whitlow is a herpes simplex virus infection of the fingers or thumb characterized by erythema accompanied by painful non-purulent vesicles.

Aim: To draw attention to the typical appearance of herpetic whitlow and to distinguish it from bacterial infections and other skin diseases because of their different management.

Materials And Methods: The patient’s history, dermatological status, and scrapings from the vesicles were taken. Read More

Australas J Dermatol 2020 Aug 31;61(3):274. Epub 2020 Jan 31.

Department of Dermatology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Rheumatology (Oxford) 2020 Aug;59(8):1817

Unidade de Doenças Auto-imunes/Medicina 7.2, Hospital de Curry Cabral, Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Central, Lisboa.

Med Clin (Barc) 2020 12 27;155(11):518. Epub 2019 Nov 27.

Servicio de Dermatología, Hospital 12 de Octubre, Madrid, España.

BMC Pediatr 2019 11 21;19(1):450. Epub 2019 Nov 21.

Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Florida, PO Box 100296, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA.

Background: Herpetic whitlow is a viral infection caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV) types 1 or 2, and occurs in the pediatric population primarily on the fingers and toes due to autoinoculation from oral secretions. Because of this cited prevalence, other locations of herpetic whitlow may go unrecognized.

Case Presentation: We present an atypical presentation of palmar herpetic whitlow with delayed recognition and associated viral lymphangitis. Read More

J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2020 Feb 9;34(2):e51-e53. Epub 2019 Sep 9.

1st Department of Dermatology and Venereology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, "A. Sygros" Hospital, Athens, Greece.

Pediatr Dermatol 2019 May 11;36(3):406-407. Epub 2019 Mar 11.

Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.

Herpetic whitlow of the toe is a common infection in an uncommon location, leading it to be frequently misdiagnosed; however, as the virus responds well to conservative management or antivirals alone, proper identification is necessary to prevent unnecessary interventions. We present a case of herpetic whitlow of the toe with an unusually ominous appearance in a previously healthy and otherwise well-appearing child. This case illustrates the spectrum of herpetic whitlow's clinical presentations and enourages consideration of the disease even for atypical location and severity. Read More

Am Fam Physician 2019 02;99(4):228-236

U.S. Marine Corps School of Infantry-East, Camp Geiger, NC, USA.

Acute hand infections are often caused by puncture wounds and are generally classified into superficial or deep infections. Superficial infections occur in the skin and subcutaneous tissues, whereas deep infections can involve the tendon sheaths, adjacent anatomic compartments, deep fascial planes, bursae, joint spaces, and bones. Superficial hand infections are more common than deep infections and are typically managed with elevation, warm soaks, splinting in the position of function, analgesics, and empiric antibiotics when indicated. Read More

J Clin Aesthet Dermatol 2018 Dec 1;11(12):48-51. Epub 2018 Dec 1.

Ms. Krooks, Dr. Weatherall, and Dr. Markowitz are with the Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine in Boca Raton, Florida.

A 70-year-old, immunocompetent male presented with mildly painful and pruritic erythematous patches and vesicles on the right dorsal aspect of the distal middle finger present for four weeks. Other skin lesions or systemic symptoms were notably absent. The patient failed to respond to valacyclovir, topical triamcinolone acetonide ointment, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and cephalexin for presumptive diagnoses of recurrent herpetic whitlow, dyshidrotic eczema, and blistering distal dactylitis, respectively. Read More

Uirusu 2019 ;68(2):115-124

Division of Molecular Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology,The Institute of Medical Science,The University of Tokyo.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is one of the most extensively studied members of the family Herpesviridae and causes various human mucocutaneous diseases, such as herpes labialis, genital herpes, herpes whitlow, and keratitis. HSV also causes herpes simplex encephalitis, which can be lethal or result in severe neurological conditions in a significant fractions of cases, even with anti-viral therapy. Thus, despite the development of several anti-herpetic drugs, numerous substantial unmet medical needs exist with regards to HSV infections. Read More

JAMA Dermatol 2018 12;154(12):1487-1488

Department of Dermatology, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York.

N Engl J Med 2018 Feb;378(6):563

Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan.

Endocr Metab Immune Disord Drug Targets 2017 ;17(1):3-4

Microbiology and Virology Unit, Bari-Policlinico, Bari, Italy.

Context: Herpetic whitlow is caused by herpes virus (type1 or 2) during primary infection or as result of autoinoculation. Commonly, it is caused by HSV-2 in adults with positive history for genital infection.

Case Description: We report the case of a 44-year-old woman that came to our attention with a 3- year history of recurrent cutaneous eruption on the ring finger of her left hand associated to lymphangitis of the homolateral arm. Read More

Clin Radiol 2017 Apr 6;72(4):338.e1-338.e9. Epub 2017 Jan 6.

The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology & Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 601 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA.

Hand and wrist infections can present with a spectrum of manifestations ranging from cellulitis to deep-space collections. The various infectious processes can be categorised as superficial or deep infections based on their respective locations relative to the tendons. Superficial hand infections are located superficial to the tendons and are comprised of cellulitis, lymphangitis, paronychia, pulp-space infections, herpetic whitlow, and include volar as well as dorsal subcutaneous abscesses. Read More

Clin Dermatol 2017 Jan - Feb;35(1):40-49. Epub 2016 Sep 10.

Emeritus Professor of Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatology, Beşevler, Ankara, Turkey.

Viruses are considered intracellular obligates with a nucleic acid RNA or DNA. They have the ability to encode proteins involved in viral replication and production of the protective coat within the host cells but require host cell ribosomes and mitochondria for translation. The members of the families Herpesviridae, Poxviridae, Papovaviridae, and Picornaviridae are the most commonly known agents for cutaneous viral diseases, but other virus families, such as Adenoviridae, Togaviridae, Parvoviridae, Paramyxoviridae, Flaviviridae, and Hepadnaviridae, can also infect the skin. Read More

AIDS 2016 09;30(14):2254-6

Gaffree and Guinle University Hospital, Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Transpl Infect Dis 2016 Oct 16;18(5):791-794. Epub 2016 Sep 16.

Department of Pediatric Oncology/Hematology/SCT, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Infections with adenovirus (AdV) and herpesviruses can result in considerable morbidity and mortality in pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant (SCT) recipients. Herpes simplex virus (HSV) reactivations are usually prevented by acyclovir (ACV) prophylaxis, whereas cidofovir (CDV) has been used off indication to manage AdV infections. We report a child with myelodysplastic syndrome undergoing multiple SCT, who experienced HSV-1 disease including severe mucositis and herpetic whitlow, as well as high viral load AdV DNAemia. Read More

Clin Case Rep 2015 Jun 22;3(6):461-7. Epub 2015 Apr 22.

Department of Virology, University of Toyama Toyama, 930-0194, Japan.

Herpes simplex virus 2 caused a genital ulcer, and a secondary herpetic whitlow appeared during acyclovir therapy. The secondary and recurrent whitlow isolates were acyclovir-resistant and temperature-sensitive in contrast to a genital isolate. We identified the ribonucleotide reductase mutation responsible for temperature-sensitivity by deep-sequencing analysis. Read More

J Med Case Rep 2015 May 23;9:119. Epub 2015 May 23.

Jeroen Bosch Ziekenhuis 's-Hertogenbosch, Henri Dunantstraat 1, 5223 GZ, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands.

Introduction: Whitlow is an infection of a finger or around the fingernails, generally caused by bacterium. However, in rare cases, it may also be caused by the herpes simplex virus. As herpetic whitlow is not seen often, it may go under-recognised or be mistaken for a different kind of infection of the finger. Read More

J Cutan Med Surg 2015 Jul-Aug;19(4):397-9. Epub 2015 Mar 3.

Center for Clinical Studies, Houston, TX, USA Dermatological Association of Texas, Houston, TX, USA Department of Dermatology, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.

Background: Blistering distal dactylitis is a localised infection of the anterior pad of the distal phalanx of the digits. It most commonly affects children and uncommonly adults with a history of immunosuppression or trauma.

Objective: A case of blistering distal dactylitis in a 32-year-old male is reported. Read More

Presse Med 2014 Nov 23;43(11):1216-22. Epub 2014 Oct 23.

19 bis, place Jean-Jaurès, 37000 Tours, France. Electronic address:

Paronychia is an inflammation of the folds of tissue surrounding the nail; proximal and/or lateral nail folds. Acute paronychia is mainly due to bacterial infection, Staphyloccus aureus or Streptococcus sometimes viral infection (herpetic whitlow). Chronic paronychia is the result of numerous conditions in which the main factor is the disappearance of the cuticle. Read More