%0 Journal Article
%T Detection and subtyping of Herpes simplex virus in clinical samples by LightCycler PCR, enzyme immunoassay and cell culture
%A Julie Burrows
%A Andreas Nitsche
%A Belinda Bayly
%A Elise Walker
%A Geoff Higgins
%A Tuckweng Kok
%J BMC Microbiology
%D 2002
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2180-2-12
%X The LightCycler PCR (LC-PCR) detected and subtyped HSV in 99% (66/67) of HSV positive specimens, compared to 81% (54/67) by rapid antigen EIA or 57% (36/63) by culture. A specimen was considered positive when two or more tests yielded HSV identifications or was culture positive. Discordant results were confirmed with an in-house developed PCR-ELISA or DNA sequence analysis. The typing results obtained with the LC-PCR and by culture amplified test were completely concordant.This study showed that the LC-PCR provided a highly sensitive test for simultaneous detection and subtyping of HSV in a single reaction tube. In addition to increased sensitivity, the LightCycler PCR provided reduced turn-around-times (2 hours) when compared to enzyme immunoassay (4 hours) or culture (4 days).Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection in adults is usually benign (e.g. oral cold sores) [18]. When it occurs in critical anatomical sites, for example ocular or central nervous system, or acquired by the neonate during parturition, the sequelae may lead to serious complications [16,17]. There are two subtypes of herpes simplex virus ¨C HSV 1 and HSV 2, both of which a patient may be concurrently infected with [15]. One central feature of HSV infection is reactivation from the sensory nervous system of latently infected humans, although the triggers for this are not well defined. Infection with HSV is thus lifelong with unpredictable reactivations in which lesions may not always be manifested [9].Laboratory diagnosis of HSV infection has relied on virus isolation in cell cultures and rapid tests viz. enzyme immunoassays (EIA) [7], immunofluorescence [4] or nucleic acid amplification by PCR [10]. In our laboratory, which provides a diagnostic service for hospital inpatients and outpatients as well as private physicians, genital, ocular and cutaneous specimens are regularly submitted for routine HSV detection. These are tested by rapid EIA and inoculated into cell culture with subsequent detectio
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2180/2/12