Allergic Contact Dermatitis Due to Idoxuridine

To the Editor: Idoxuridine has been widely used by ophthalmologists for more than 10 years for the treatment of herpes simplex keratitis. In spite of this long history, reports in the medical literature of “allergic reactions” to this compound are rare,^{1 2 3} and until last year, true delayed hypersensitivity had not been documented. We recently reported four cases of proved allergic contact dermatitis caused by idoxuridine after eye and skin application for ophthalmic and genital herpes simplex infections.⁴ Earlier, Osmundsen⁵ reported two cases caused by skin application of idoxuridine for cutaneous herpes simplex infection and the experimental treatment of condyloma. No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.