Effect of experimental herpes simplex virus vaccine on established ganglionic latency.

Mice were inoculated with herpes simplex virus type 1 by the corneal route beforehand. Ten weeks after the inoculation, one group of mice was repeatedly treated with infectious virus-free, detergent-soluble extract of virus-infected cells (DSE) by the intraperitoneal route and the other group served as the controls. The virus recovery rate from the trigeminal ganglia of DES-treated mice was markedly reduced as compared with that of untreated mice, when a small amount of inocula was used. However, no significant decrease in the virus recovery rate was obtained when a large amount of inocula was used, suggesting that treatment with DSE had a limited effect on established ganglionic latency. The level of neutralizing antibody titers in the serum did not seem to be correlated with the efficacy of DSE in mice infected with a small amount of inocula.