Investigation of the Anti-HSV Activity of Candidate Antiviral Agents.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is a human pathogen that causes diseases ranging in medical importance from herpes labialis, through genital herpes and herpes keratitis, to herpes encephalitis-a life-threatening disease. HSV types 1 and 2 have the ability to enter a latent phase during in vivo infection, during which time the virus is able to evade immune surveillance, and from which state it is able to escape from time to time to cause disease, especially in immunocompromised individuals. This characteristic makes antiviral chemotherapy an indispensable weapon in the management of recurrent herpesvirus infection.