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The effect of purified proflavine and light exposure was assessed in rabbits whose eyes had been infected with one of two strains of herpesvirus. In comparing proflavine-light and placebo-light treatment, 0.1% proflavine administered twice daily for 5 days had a significant effect in suppressing herpetic eye disease, but 0.05% proflavine was less effective. In addition to being effective in infections with either virus strain, the 0.1% proflavine also suppressed intensity of corneal epithelial ulceration and stromal opacity in animals pretreated with subconjunctival corticosteroids to produce more severe disease. Proflavine or idoxuridine (IDU) alone or in combination showed no differences in suppressing herpetic ocular disease, but all were significantly more effective than placebo. Virus recovery rates were approximately the same from eyes treated with proflavine, IDU, or placebo, indicating that viral replication in the cornea and conjunctiva was not completely suppressed by either of the antiviral drugs alone or in combination.

In 1969, an explosive epidemic of conjunctivitis with severe conjunctival hemorrhages swept through West Africa.1This new syndrome, acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC), was originally referred to as "Apollo conjunctivitis" by virtue of its appearance at the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing. In 1970 and 1971, similar epidemics occurred in North Africa, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Taiwan, with somewhat later outbreaks in Japan, Korea, India, and Europe. Acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis was immediately recognized as a new ocular disease by its clinical and epidemiological characteristics. Affected patients experience the sudden onset of conjunctivitis with lid swelling, tearing, serous discharge, and photophobia; the inflammation in the conjunctiva is accompanied by lymphoid follicles and spectacular hemorrhages as well as preauricular lymphadenopathy. The disease is self-limited, running its course in seven to ten days. Epidemics of AHC have occurred mainly in developing countries and have involved both urban and