Analysis of herpes simplex virus isolated from patients with recurrent herpes keratitis exhibiting "treatment-resistance" to 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine.

Four strains of herpes simplex virus (HSV) were isolated from two patients with recurrent herpes keratitis who failed to respond to 5'-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine (IDU) treatment. Two of the four isolates were highly resistant to IDU in cell culture and the other two isolates were more susceptible to IDU than an HSV-1 laboratory strain. From each patient, an IDU-resistant and an IDU-susceptible virus was isolated. All 4 isolates possessed the ability to induce the thymidine kinase (TK) activity in cell lines lacking that activity. All the isolates were type 1 HSV, since the filamentous structures, recognized as a biological marker of type 2 HSV, were not observed in infected cells.