The effect of a topical anesthetic on the recovery of Herpes simplex virus

The effect of proparacaine hydrochloride (Ophthaine), a commonly used topical ocular anesthetic, on the recovery of types 1 and 2 herpes simplex virus (HSV) was studied in vitro and in vivo. In the in vitro studies, the titers of both virus types were significantly lower after exposing them to Ophthaine than after exposing them to a control solution. but in the recovery of virus from corneal scrapings from HSV-infected rabbit eyes, collected on the third and seventh days of clinical disease, there was no significant difference between the Ophthaine-treated eyes and the controls. We explored the possible reasons for the disparity between these in vitro and in vivo results.