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	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In the September issue of the ARCHIVES, Kempf et al¹ published an article in which our hypothesis² about the human herpesvirus 7 (HHV-7) etiology of pityriasis rosea (PR) is brutally denied. We would like to analyze the "evidence" their conclusion is based on.

By nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Kempf et al¹ detected HHV-7 DNA sequences in 8% of the PR skin biopsy specimens and in 14% of normal skin. By immunohistochemical analysis, they also detected HHV-7–specific antigen only in those PR skin specimens that PCR had proven to contain DNA sequences. Human herpesvirus 7 viral antigen was found in perivascular cells that were reported, on the basis of morphological studies, to represent monocytes and/or macrophages or dendritic mononuclear inflammatory cells of the lineage. In conclusion, the authors suggest that our finding HHV-7 in PR lesional skin may have resulted from contamination.

The first point that should concern the reader . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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