Antibacterial Activity of Herpes Simplex Virus grown in Tissue Culture

Abstract

ANTIBACTERIAL substances have been recovered from bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, lichens and seed plants^1,2 but not from viruses. Gan and Warsa³ observed that the allantoic fluid of embryonated eggs infected with influenza virus possessed lytic activity against a variety of microorganisms, but concluded that this lytic factor was distinct from the virus itself. In the light of the observation that herpes simplex lesions around the nose and mouth rarely, if ever, become infected despite their heavy exposure to pathogenic strains of staphylococci, a study was undertaken to determine whether herpes simplex virus exerts any inhibitory effect on the growth of staphylococci and other bacteria.