Herpes Simplex Encephalitis Treated with Systemic 5-Iodo-2′deoxyuridine

Abstract

Acute necrotizing encephalitis due to herpes simplex virus can be a fatal or severely debilitating disease (1-4). The outlook is especially poor in those patients in whom the disease progresses to coma and convulsions (1, 2). An analogue of thymidine, 5-iodo-2′deoxyuridine (IUDR), inhibits the growth of herpes simplex and other deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) viruses in vitro (5, 6) and has been used topically in the treatment of herpes simplex keratitis (7, 8). It has been suggested that systemic IUDR might be helpful in slowing or aborting the progression of potentially lethal systemic viral diseases such as herpes simplex encephalitis (7,