The Meta-Encyclopedia

Herpes

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

a skin affection, composed of vesicles grouped on an inflamed surface, as in the lip (herpes labialis) in pneumonia, or as shingles (herpes zoster) where they form a belt round half the body. Duration, from 16 to 20 days. Copyright Ewing Galloway A SELF-REVISING REFERENCE WORK WITH LOOSE-LEAF FEATURES IN TEN BOUND VOLUMES WITH 515 ILLUSTRATIONS AND NINETY-SIX MAPS, SUPPLEMENTED BY A LOOSE-LEAF VOLUME VOLUME FIVE P. F. COLLIER & SON COMPANY NEW YORK Copyright, 1921 By P. F. COLLIER & SON COMPANY DR. WILLIAM A. NEILSON, CHAIRMAN PRESIDENT SMITH COLLEGE, NORTHAMPTON, MASS. FORMER NAVAL WAR COLLEGE, NEWPORT, R. I. DR. JOSEPH H. ODELL DIRECTOR, SERVICE CITIZENS OF DELAWARE, WILMINGTON, DEL. DR. KENNETH C. M. SILLS PRESIDENT BOWDOIN COLLEGE, BRUNSWICK, ME. DR. HENRY S. CANBY EDITOR LITERARY REVIEW, NEW YORK, N. Y. DR. W. T. COUNCILMAN DEPARTMENT OF PATHOLOGY, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, BOSTON, MASS. DR. CHARLES F. THWING PRESIDENT WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY, CLEVELAND, OHIO DR. EDWIN GREENLAW UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, CHAPEL HILL, N. C. DR. J. H. KIRKLAND CHANCELLOR VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, NASHVILLE, TENN. PROFESSOR IRVING FISHER YALE UNIVERSITY, NEW HAVEN, CONN. EDITOR IN CHIEF FRANCIS J. REYNOLDS FORMER REFERENCE LIBRARIAN, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS MANAGING EDITOR ALLEN L. CHURCHILL ASSOCIATE EDITOR THE NEW INTERNATIONAL ENCYCLOPEDIA CONTRIBUTING EDITORS J. W. DUFFIELD EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE NEW YORK TIMES ALBERT SONNICHSEN ECONOMIST, WAR CORRESPONDENT T. C. SHAFFER PROFESSOR OF HISTORY B. H. GOLDSMITH EDITOR, ECONOMIST BENEDICT FITZPATRICK FORMERLY LITERARY EDITOR OF THE LONDON MAIL C. E. MELOY SMITH DREXEL INSTITUTE, CONSULTING ENGINEER E. D. PIERSON EDITOR, CORRESPONDENT LONDON TIMES J. B. GIBSON COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY J. L. FRENCH EDITOR, AUTHOR Opposite page 52 HIEROGLYPHICS-TEMPLE OF DENDERA HIEROGLYPHICS-THEBES HIEROGLYPHICS-CLAY POSTAGE IDOL FOUND IN HONDURAS HARBOR OF HONG KONG, CHINA HYDRAULIC POWER HOUSE HYDRAULIC MINING PALISADES, HUDSON RIVER Opposite page 132 DELHI, CAPITAL OF INDIA PRIMITIVE BRIDGE, INDIA SNAKE CHARMERS, INDIA ELEPHANTS IN PARADE, INDIA PEARL MOSQUE, AGRA, INDIA INDIANS IN PERU PATAGONIAN INDIANS HOPI INDIAN WOMEN AMERICAN INDIAN ARCHERS Opposite page 196 GIANT'S CAUSEWAY, IRELAND STREET IN BELFAST, IRELAND O'CONNELL BRIDGE, DUBLIN DRYING PEAT IN IRELAND

What Has Changed in the Last Century

Collier's in 1921 could only describe herpes as a rash of grouped vesicles lasting 16 to 20 days, with cold sores and shingles listed side by side as skin conditions. Both are now known to be caused by viruses: herpes simplex, isolated in the 1920s and 30s, and varicella-zoster, the same virus that causes chickenpox and then lies dormant in nerve roots for decades before erupting as shingles. Antiviral drugs, above all acyclovir from about 1982, can shorten and suppress outbreaks, and a shingles vaccine has been available since 2006, with the far more effective Shingrix arriving in 2017. What the entry does not mention at all is genital herpes, now among the most common viral infections worldwide and still incurable, since the virus persists for life in the nerve ganglia.

Written for this edition, 2026.