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An attempt was made to classify herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) isolates into subtypes on the basis of the combination of the gain or loss of specific cleavage sites of HSV-1 genomes with each of three restriction endonucleases (Bam HI, Kpn I, and Sal I). According to the criteria we used for the determination of HSV-1 subtypes, 93 strains of HSV-1 that were isolated in three areas of Japan (Sapporo, Tottori, and Kagawa) were tentatively classified into eight subtypes: subtypes A-H. The bulk of the strains (84 of 93) fell into three subtypes: A, C, and H. There were highly significant differences (P less than .01) in the proportion of subtypes A and H that were isolated in Sapporo as compared with those isolated in Tottori and in Kagawa, which are geographically far from Sapporo. No significant differences, however, were found in subtypes isolated in Tottori as compared with those isolated in Kagawa, which are geographically close to each other. These data suggest that there might be a correlation between the genome structure of HSV-1 and the areas of their isolation in Japan.

Two outbreaks of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection occurred in three newborns at each of two hospitals, and two of the infants in each case died of disseminated HSV-1 infection. Restriction endonuclease profiles of HSV-1 DNAs isolated from the three in each instance were essentially identical, indicating that they were epidemiologically related. In the first instance, each of three infants born in the same hospital at intervals of approximately 2 years or 1 year was infected with HSV-1. In this case, it was suggested that periodically reactivated HSV-1 strains from hospital personnel had been transmitted to three newborns. In the second instance (infants G-36, G-37, and G-38), the radiant warmer that had been occupied by infant G-36, who was infected with HSV-1, was used for infant G-37. Infant G-38 was in another radiant warmer 2 m from the radiant warmer occupied by infant G-37. Therefore, it was suggested that the virus had possibly been transmitted via radiant warmer and by hospital personnel in the two instances.

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