Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)--induced retinitis following herpes simplex encephalitis: indications for brain-to-eye transmission of HSV-1.
Herpes simplex encephalitis is a severe neurological disease with high mortality and morbidity rates. Reactivated herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) can cause relapses and might even spread to the retina, where it can induce a potentially blinding eye disease, known as acute retinal necrosis. In the present study, the HSV-1 strains in the brain and eye of 2 patients with acute retinal necrosis following an episode of herpes simplex encephalitis were genotyped. The HSV-1 strains in both the brain and eye were identical in each patient, but they differed interindividually. The data suggest brain-to-eye transmission of HSV-1 in these patients.
Maertzdorf
J
J
Department of Virology, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Van der Lelij
A
A
Baarsma
G S
GS
Osterhaus
A D
AD
Verjans
G M
GM
D000368:Aged; D001483:Base Sequence; D020803:Encephalitis, Herpes Simplex / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics* / Q000635:transmission*; D005260:Female; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012173:Retinitis / Q000209:etiology*