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Updated: May 1, 2026
Ex Vivo Organotypic Corneal Model of Acute Epithelial Herpes Simplex Virus Type I Infection
Published on: November 3, 2012
Detection of human herpesvirus 7 in conjunctival samples collected from individuals recovering from conjunctivitis
Andrew T E Hartwick1, Christina E Morettin2, Jennifer S Harthan2
1College of Optometry, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.
Purpose:
Although it is often reported that adenovirus is the most common etiology for infectious conjunctivitis, a recent multi-center clinical study found that adenovirus was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction in only 16% of cases presenting with acute conjunctivitis. Here, we investigated the hypothesis that a member of Herpesviridae could be the underlying etiology in some non-adenoviral cases of conjunctivitis.
Methods:
Molecular assays for Herpes Simplex 1 and 2 (HSV-1, HSV-2) and Human Herpesvirus 6A, 6B and 7 (HHV-6A, HHV-6B, HHV-7) were performed on conjunctival samples collected from 18 individuals with acute conjunctivitis and during their recovery in follow-up visits that spanned up to 3 weeks. All samples, obtained from individuals enrolled in a clinical trial evaluating a conjunctivitis treatment, were from eyes that had previously tested negative for adenovirus using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques.
Results:
In total, 160 PCR assays were performed on 40 conjunctival samples. Four of these samples, obtained from four different individuals, tested positive for HHV-7. None of the samples tested positive for HSV-1, HSV-2, HHV-6A or HHV-6B.
Conclusion:
This data provides further evidence that Human Herpesvirus 7 can be present in the eye, as HHV-7 was detected in a subset of conjunctival samples obtained from individuals recovering from non-adenoviral conjunctivitis. Clinicians should consider non-adenoviral etiologies when managing conjunctivitis that presents as classic 'pink eye'.
