Cell-mediated immunity to herpes virus type-1 in patients with recurrent corneal herpes simplex.

The proportion of T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood, their phytohaemagglutinin reactivity, and the leucocyte migration inhibitory effect of purified tuberculin protein were found to be equal in 25 recurrent corneal herpes simplex patients and 17 healthy individuals who had never suffered from clinically manifest herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection. Conversely, the HSV vaccine inhibited the leucocyte migration in the healthy group, but not in the recurrent herpes patients when the clinical symptoms were manifest. In 14 recurrent corneal herpes simplex patients, the examinations were repeated after a 3-month symptom-free period, and in these periods the patients corresponded equally to the healthy group in every respect.