Herpesvirus hominis: isolation from human trigeminal ganglion

Herpesvirus hominis was isolated from the trigeminal ganglion obtained at autopsy from 1 of 22 patients with no clinical evidence of active herpetic disease, and from one patient with malignant lymphoma who died with herpes zoster on the abdomen, pulmonary cytomegalic inclusion disease, and possible oral herpes simplex. Virus was isolated by cocultivation of explants of ganglion with monolayers of Vero green monkey kidney cells and required 3 weeks of culture before viral cytopathic effects were evident. These observations support the concept that latent infection of sensory ganglia may be the source of virus in recurrent herpetic disease in man.