Abstract
PERINATAL infections with herpes simplex virus (HSV) cause death or permanent disability in most reported cases1–5. In theory, control of this disease by immunotherapy might be feasible, much like postexposure serum prophylaxis of rabies, since the time of HSV infection in the birth canal is usually known and antibody can be administered soon thereafter. Treatment with antibody has not been encouraged, however, because (1) many investigators consider this immunity cell-mediated rather than humoral6–11; (2) effective administration of human immune globulin in neonatal herpes of man has not been demonstrated1,3,12, and (3) transplacental antibody conferred only partial protection in human neonatal infections1. There is further discouragement in animal studies which failed to show protection by antibody9–11, although antibody was protective in some animal studies13–20. The findings reported here raise again the possibility that antibody treatment might be effective in specific conditions.
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BARON, S., WORTHINGTON, M., WILLIAMS, J. et al. Postexposure serum prophylaxis of neonatal herpes simplex virus infection of mice. Nature 261, 505–506 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/261505a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/261505a0
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