ABSTRACT
The key to the care of patients with sexually transmitted diseases of the vulva, vagina, or lower genital tract is an awareness of the wide variety of different clinical presentations and the knowledge of appropriate laboratory tests necessary to confirm the diagnosis. Patients with ulcerative diseases of the vulva have a variety of presentations that require specifically directed laboratory testing to establish the diagnosis. The most commonly encountered pathogens are herpes simplex virus herpes simplex virus-1 and herpes simplex virus-2. A rare viral isolate from a genital ulcer is cytomegalovirus, identified in a vulvar ulcer in a human immunodeficiency virus -positive woman. In addition to the frequent microbial causes of vulvovaginal disorders, a multitude of other sexually transmitted microorganisms may be the primary culprit in individual women. In immunosuppressed women, unanticipated viral pathogens can be confirmed by culture. The therapeutic approaches to sexually transmitted viral infections involve both prevention and treatment.
