Patent ID: 6890538

Claim:
A method of generating an immune response to a herpes simplex virus (HSV) in a human or animal host, said method comprising: (a) providing an immunogenic compositions; wherein said composition is comprised of an invasive but attenuated or non-pathogenic bacterium selected from the group consisting of Salmonella, Shigella, Listeria and E. coli bacteria; said bacterium is comprised of a coding sequence encoding a herpes simplex virus (HSV) antigen selected from the group consisting of glycoprotein D, glycoprotein H, glycoprotein B and ICP27; and said coding sequence is comprised within an expression construct and operably linked to one or more regulatory sequences and (b) administering said composition to said host such that said bacterium invades a host cell of said host selected from the group consisting of macrophages and dendritic cells and said expression construct is transferred to said host cell where said regulatory sequences direct expression of said coding sequence, and said HSV antigen is transcribed and translated in said host cell without introduction of an antimicrobial agent to lyse the bacterium to generate said immune response against HSV.