Placebo-controlled study with subunit herpes simplex virus vaccine in subjects suffering from frequent herpetic recurrences.

The safety and efficacy of a subunit herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 vaccine were tested in a small-scale double-blind trial carried out in a group of 42 volunteers suffering from frequent recurrences of herpetic lesions. The patients were paired according to sex, age, type of virus isolated, previous history of the disease and some non-specific immunological markers. One member of each pair received repeated doses of HSV vaccine, the other a placebo.