Herpes simplex virus type-1 pneumonitis in immunocompetent young woman

A healthy young woman presented with an overwhelming hyperacute herpes simplex virus-1 pneumonia that dramatically responded to intravenous acyclovir. It is postulated that the infection was a reactivation of latent virus in the vagal ganglia, in the absence of retrograde extension of herpes labialis/gingivostomatitis, or hematogenous spread from extragenital and other sources of infection. It is also postulated that the patient's amazing improvement overnight was a real-time coincidence of spontaneous recovery from the viral infection and prompt initiation of acyclovir treatment.