[Contact allergy to tromantadine]

Though infection with herpes simplex virus is one of the most common infections, there has not been causal topical treatment until now. Since 1973 tromantadine HCl (in the following briefly called tromantadine) has been offered as a topical virustatic agent. Only three years later, in 1976, there were the first reports of allergic contact dermatitis due to tromantadine. 19 patients with dermatitis after application of tromantadine ointment were patch-tested and in 14 of them a contact allergy to tromantadine was observed. In 119 patients who were patch-tested because of various dermatoses, tromantadine and the gel base were patch-tested additionally. Two positive reactions to the active substance and two to the gel base only were found. One of the latter patients also had a positive reaction to parabens. The results are discussed and compared with the results of other authors.