Effects of 5-iodo-2' -deoxyuridine and Phenylmercuric Dinaphthylmethane Disulphonate on Herpes Genitalis.

The successful treatment of thirteen cases of herpes simplex ofthe skin with 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine (5IDU) was reported by Hall-Smith, Corrigan, and Gilkes (1962), and a further series of 22 cases by Jackson (1963). The effects of 5IDU in 43 cases of herpetic keratitis in rabbits compared with an unspecified number of controls have been reported favourably by Kaufman, Nesburn, and Malony, (1962), and it was recorded that 25 of a further series of 46 patients were cured in 2 to 11 days. This was supported by Corrigan, Gilkes, and Roberts (1962), who reported a favourable response in fifteen patients with dendritic ulceration. Davidson (1962), however, expressed reservations on the effectiveness of 5IDU in dendritic ulceration owing to the high rate of failures and recurrences in a series of 22 patients. Burnett, in a personal communication to Tolman and Wilgram (1962), also expressed reservations on the clinical effectiveness of 5IDU in the treatment of a limited number of recurrent herpes simplex infections in glabrous skin. However, an effective controlled series in the use of 5IDU on herpes simplex skin infections has not been available up to the time of writing. Hutfield (1963) described the favourable effects of phenylmercuric dinaphthylmethane disulphonate (Penotrane) in twenty cases of herpes genitalis in a comparative trial with an inert compound. The effects of 5IDU in a series of twenty cases of herpes genitalis compared with the twenty cases treated with Penotrane, and a further twenty cases treated with an inert compound used as a control are now described.