Aim. The objective of the present work was to study the epidemiological characteristics of the erosive form of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), determine and evaluate the peculiar characteristics of the patients presenting with this condition, their complaints, and the frequency of persistence of herpes viruses in the oesophageal mucosa. Material and methods. The study included 147 patients (109 men and 38 women) at the age varying from 18 to 90 years who presented with erosive esophagitis diagnosed with the use of esophagogastroduodenoscopy. The severity of erosive esophagitis was evaluated based on the Savary-Miller (S-M) classification. For fragments of the mucous membrane of oesophagus (MMO) were taken from each of the participants of the study for the histological investigation including two from the visible defect area and another two from the site 2 cm above the mucosal rosette of the cardia. The persistence of type 1 and 2 herpes simplex viruses (HSV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in oesophageal mucosa was evaluated by the immunohistochemical (IHC) method with the use of specific antibodies. Results. The study has demonstrated that the following forms of esophagitis occur in the patients presenting with the erosive form of gastroesophageal reflux disease (according to the S-M classification): grade 1 esophagitis diagnosed in 55.1% of the patients, grade II esophagitis detected in 31.8%, grade III and grade IV esophagitis diagnosed in 14.9% and 8.2% of the patients respectively. Hyperplasia of the mucous membrane turned out to be the most frequent focal lesion in the distal part of oesophagus. It was in 19% of the examined patients. Gastric and intestinal metaplasias were found in 15.6% and 2% of the patients respectively. The chronic viral infection of oesophageal mucosa was a widespread condition. Herpes viruses were shown to persist in 46.3% of the patients, with the commonest of them being herpes simplex virus (in 69.1%), while cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus persisted in 36.8% of the cases. 35.3% of the patients presented with the combined infection by several pathogens (from 2 to 3 species). Conclusion. The results of the present study give evidence that 46.3% of the patients suffering from erosive esophagitis are the carriers of type 1 and 2 herpes simplex viruses, CMV, and EPV with the predominance of type 1 and 2 herpes simplex viruses. 35.5% of such patients have the combination of 2 or 3 viruses. Erosive esophagitis associated with the persistence of viruses in the mucous membrane of oesophagus is characterized by the non-specific clinical manifestations. It can be expected that differential diagnostics of the oesophageal herpes virus infections would promote optimization of the methods available for the treatment of the refractive forms of gastroesophageal reflux disease.