EFFECT OF AGE AND ROUTE OF INOCULATION ON OUTCOME OF NEONATAL HERPES-SIMPLEX VIRUS-INFECTION IN GUINEA-PIGS

The morbidity and mortality of neonatal herpes simplex virus infection remains unacceptably high despite antiviral therapy. A better underst anding of factors that might contribute to this poor outcome is needed but has been hindered by a lack of a good animal model. The recently described guinea pig model of neonatal HSV-2 infection was used to exp lore the effect of age and route of inoculation on the outcome of infe ction. After intranasal inoculation the onset, extent, and severity of the primary disease, as well as the number of recurrent lesion days, varied inversely with age. The route of inoculation also affected the outcome. Newborn animals were inoculated either intradermally on the s calp or by the intranasal, oral or corneal route. Animals inoculated o n the scalp had the best outcome with no deaths or evidence of neurolo gic disease while the intranasal route produced the most severe diseas e, 88% mortality. Neurologic disease was common after oral (41%) and c orneal (56%) inoculation but resolved spontaneously whereas following intranasal (39%) inoculation all animals with neurologic disease died. Recurrent disease manifest by cutaneous lesions was observed in all s urvivors of each group but also differed by the route of inoculation. The guinea pig model of neonatal HSV-2 disease appears to mimic human disease. The studies presented here show that the outcome of infection is influenced by the age and route of inoculation. (C) 1996 Wiley-Lis s, Inc.