SEM of fibroblast cells infected by the herpes simplex virus. Fibroblasts are normally long and star-shaped. The HSV2 infected the cells 24 hours earlier, causing them to shrink and become rounded. HSV2 is a DNA-containing virus that causes genital herpes, an important sexually- transmitted disease.
I have a friend who is a virologist and was doing work with adenovirus at one point. Once, he held up a tube after ultracentrifuging a tube to purify the virus and a drop of it had splashed into his eye (and that is why you wear goggles).
He went down into emergency (after flushing at the eyewash station) and the first thing they asked was, “It’s not Herpes Simplex is it?” because herpes keratitis is the leading cause of adult blindness in North America. He didn’t go blind because it was adeno, but it was a ferocious case of conjunctivitis regardless. Ironically, he now researches HSV.
