The sensitivity to acyclovir of more than 800 herpes simplex virus (HSV) isolates from over 300 patients were tested by the dye-uptake method. While a broad spectrum of sensitivity was found, approximately 90% of the isolates were inhibited by less than 1 mg/l of acyclovir. Therapy usually did not significantly alter the sensitivity of HSV isolates except in a few severely immunocompromised patients in whom resistant viruses produced asymptomatic or indolent infections. The sensitivity of viruses isolated during subsequent recurrences was similar to that of the originally infecting virus, regardless of therapy. The requirement of convenient and standardized methods of virus sensitivity testing is emphasized so that additional data can be accumulated to allow more precise correlations between in-vitro virus sensitivity and clinical response to acyclovir therapy.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.