Abstract
To evaluate the epidemiology of herpetic keratitis over a 15-year period at a tertiary care center in Switzerland, focusing on the relative incidence of herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1, HSV-2, and varicella zoster virus (VZV), gender distribution, and co-infections, we conducted a retrospective single-center analysis of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays from corneal and conjunctival scrapings of suspected herpetic keratitis at a tertiary referral hospital. Patient demographics, viral spectra, and microbiological co-infections were assessed. Between 2010 and 2025, we identified 9954 PCR assays from 2892 patients, with 482 samples testing positive for herpesvirus. HSV-1 was the most frequent pathogen (328 of 3358, 9.8%), followed by VZV (143 of 3112, 4.6%), HSV-2 (9 of 3290, 0.27%), and CMV (2 of 194, 1.0%). Triplet testing (simultaneous HSV-1, HSV-2, and VZV-PCR) enabled direct comparisons of relative incidence rates. We found 2913 triplet testing results, with a relative distribution in positive results of 65.4% for HSV-1, 32.5% for VZV, and 2.1% for HSV-2. HSV-1 keratitis had a statistically significant higher incidence in men (58.9%, p = 0.0044), while no sex difference was detected for VZV (47.9%, p = 0.6683), HSV-2 (33.3%, p = 0.5078), or CMV (100%, p = 0.500). Bilateral infections were present in two patients, and co-infections were detected as follows: 8 cases of HSV-1/VZV co-detection, 3 cases of Acanthamoeba, and 15 of fungi. HSV-1 was the overwhelmingly dominant cause of herpetic keratitis at our institution, occurring more than twice as frequently as VZV and vastly outnumbering HSV-2. The statistically significant higher incidence in men in HSV-1 keratitis suggests possible biological or sociodemographic influences, whereas co-infections highlight the complexity of corneal pathology in a referral setting. These findings underscore the importance of multiplex PCR testing for accurate pathogen detection and provide insights into the epidemiologic landscape of herpetic keratitis.