Word: simplexity
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...proves the rule. Idoxuridine. or IDU, was successfully used for ulcers of the cornea and nearby parts of the eye that have little or no blood supply and are relatively resistant to drug damage. The next question was whether the new drug would also kill the same virus, herpes simplex, when it infects parts of the body that have a normal blood supply...
Three doctors in Brighton, England, now think that it does. They have taken another short but promising step toward control of viral infections by using IDU against herpes simplex, the virus of fever blisters, in cases where the sores had broken out on the upper lip, nostril or cheek. Doctors usually dismiss cold sores as trivial, but the virus may cause a fatal inflammation if it spreads to the brain; it can cause blindness if it reaches the eyes. Some of the British patients already had corneal infections...
...switched to an ointment that was applied only four times a day. The results were equally good by all methods. The patients' recurrent cold sores had previously taken seven to 21 days to heal; now they cleared up in two to five days. Since anybody infected with herpes simplex usually carries the virus for life, though infection erupts only at intervals, the next step is to find out how long the IDU "cure" lasts...
...disease is the most frequent cause of eyeball-scarring infections in the U.S., and for no known reason it is becoming commoner. Its scars are the main reason for corneal transplants. Its cause is the versatile virus herpes simplex, which usually does no more harm than to touch off annoying fever blisters or canker sores in the mouth, but may cause blindness if it reaches the eyes, or even death if it attacks the brain...
...Herpes Simplex ("fever blisters," many "canker sores"). Grown in tissue culture, but no vaccine in sight. Smallpox vaccine sometimes used in severe cases...