Neonatal herpes policy in the Netherlands. Five years after a consensus conference

Abstract
In order to establish whether the recommendations of an in 1987 organized consensus conference about neonatal herpes policy in the Netherlands had been followed, an inquiry was held in January 1992 among gynecologists, pediatricians and microbiologists. Compared with the results of an inquiry that was held five years before, it was found that the incidence of neonatal herpes had not increased in the last ten years (approximately five cases annually or one per 35,000 neonates) despite the lower frequency of caesarean sections (more than 50 sections a year before 1987 and less than 10 sections a year after 1987). It is concluded that the consensus statements not only have been followed, but that they also proved to be sound.