ACYCLOVIR-RESISTANT HERPES-SIMPLEX VIRUS-INFECTIONS IN A BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANT POPULATION

Over a 3-month period, four patients who had received unrelated donor (UD) bone marrow transplants (BMT) presented with severe mucocutaneous herpes simplex virus (HSV)infection while receiving acyclovir (ACV) p rophylaxis, Sensitivity testing of the isolates revealed three to be a cyclovir-resistant and in one patient the infection was also character ised by a marked failure to respond to foscarnet (phosphonoformic acid ). The emergence of ACV-resistant HSV infections in themselves is a ne w and challenging problem, and yet a far greater problem will become e vident if these infections develop resistance to non thymidine kinase dependent therapy.