[Investigations on the latent infection of herpes simplex virus-1 in the cornea]

Abstract

The relapsing rate in 216 patients of recurrent herpes simplex keratitis (HSK) treated with penetrating keratoplasty was 4.2% in 6.5 years, while experimental studies showed that HSV-1 antigens in the cornea disappeared 45 days after the primary corneal infection. Among 18 cases of quiescent HSK, HSV-1 antigens were negative in the corneal tissue, which however turned positive in 6 (66.7%) of 9 cases that were cultured for reactivation, and became infectious to primary rabbit kidney cells. Tests of susceptibility revealed that rabbit keratocytes were most sensitive to infection with HSV-1 strain Mckrae. The authors opined that the cornea might be an additional site to the trigeminal ganglion to harbor HSV-1.