Herpes Simplex Virus: Insights into the Emerging Ocular Viral Infection

The article is focused on the overview of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV), the leading cause of blindness due to corneal disease called Herpetic keratitis. The first part narrates epidemiology, the virus HSV, its structure, life cycle, and pathogenesis. There is an estimate of around 1.5 million people affected globally by HSV keratitis with an addition of about 40,000 cases every year. It usually infects in the early age of life, and impacts the vision thereby affecting the quality of life of young and productive adults. The chapter shall discuss on diagnosis and respective treatment emphasizing on the role of two essential drugs, namely, Acyclovir and Ganciclovir against HSV and their effective delivery. The diagnosis approaches were established, and upcoming treatment methods are based on the latest research techniques, especially the topical and oral antiviral drug administration to control HSV keratitis in particular. Herpes Simplex Keratitis (HSK), is a frequently observed condition which is described as recurrent corneal infection with the possibility of blindness. HSV type-1 (HSV-1) is observed to be the predominant cause of infection compared to HSV type-2 (HSV-2), which is infected in lesser extent.