Vaccinia of the vulva. A case report.

Localized accidental vaccinia of the vulva, although considered in detail by Humphrey (1963) and referred to by Gardner (Gardner and Kaufman, 1969), receives little attention in most of the contemporary textbooks of venereology. As it is unlikely that the virus can penetrate intact skin (Curth, Curth, and Garb, 1948), accidental vaccinia is assumed to follow the transfer of vaccine lymph to a site where the epithelial covering has been damaged. Obviously during intercourse there is a degree of trauma to the vulval epithelium and conditions are ideal for inoculation. The transfer takes place either shortly after vaccination, with the original lymph vaccine from the site of therapeutic inoculation, or when the vesicopustule discharges its