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To the Editor.—
In a recent issue of the Archives (108:689, 1973), Drs. Mitchell and Stewart document allergic contact dermatitis due to neutral red in one patient.We have seen several probable examples of the contact allergy; in one, patch testing was performed. A 24-year-old physician's wife and medical secretary had received three courses of neutral red treatment for recurrent herpes simplex from September 1972 to March 1973. She was retreated in April 1973 and developed a spreading eczematous dermatitis that clinically was assumed to be allergic in origin. In May 1973, occlusive patch testing (Al test) with 0.1% aqueous solution of neutral red produced a vesicular response lasting more than four days. Patch testing was repeated in October 1973 with similar results. Similar patch testing in 12 control subjects was negative.We suspect that allergic contact dermatitis to neutral red may not be uncommon. In this patient, the spreading