Herpetic proctitis and meningitis: recovery of two strains of herpes simplex virus type 1 from cerebrospinal fluid.

A patient with simultaneous proctitis and meningitis due to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) was extensively investigated. In both disease locations the infection was clinically evident and culture-proven. Analysis by sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of rectal isolates revealed both HSV-1 and HSV-2. The cerebrospinal fluid harbored two apparently different strains of HSV-1, one of which was shown by restriction endonuclease analysis to be identical with the rectal isolate of HSV-1.