Skip to main content
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1976 Mar;3(3):309–312. doi: 10.1128/jcm.3.3.309-312.1976

Diagnosis of herpes simplex virus infection by immunofluorescence.

L H Taber, F Brasier, R B Couch, S B Greenberg, D Jones, V Knight
PMCID: PMC274289  PMID: 178689

Abstract

The utility of the indirect immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) technique for diagnosis of herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection was examined by testing specimens for this agent from 31 patients with encephalitis or meningitis, 17 with conjunctivitis, 19 with genital disease, and 1 with genital disease and meningitis. Brain biopsy tissue from four patients with encephalitis was positive by IFA and virus culture for HSV. Leukocytes in cerebrospinal fluid from these four patients and one with HSV meningitis were also positive by IFA, but virus isolation attempts on the fluid were all negative. Conjunctival scrapings from two patients with conjunctivitis were positive for HSV by both IFA and virus culture. Eleven of 12 culture-positive lesions of herpes progenitalis were positive by IFA, and 1 dark field-positive syphilitic chancre was also positive for HSV by both IFA and culture. Evidence for specificity of the results was provided by internal controls in each test and negative results from patients with other diagnoses. Thus, the IFA technique constituted a rapid, sensitive, and specific diagnostic method for the diagnosis of HSV infections.

Full text

PDF
312

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Black M. M., McQuillin J., Gardner P. S. A rapid diagnostic aid for herpesvirus hominis infections in dermatology. Dermatologica. 1972;144(1):45–56. doi: 10.1159/000252095. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dayan A. D., Stokes M. I. Rapid diagnosis of encephalitis by immunofluorescent examination of cerebrospinal-fluid cells. Lancet. 1973 Jan 27;1(7796):177–179. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(73)90006-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Douglas R. G., Jr, Couch R. B. A prospective study of chronic herpes simplex virus infection and recurrent herpes labialis in humans. J Immunol. 1970 Feb;104(2):289–295. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. GRIFFIN J. W. FLUORESCENT ANTIBODY STUDY OF HERPES SIMPLEX VIRUS LESIONS AND RECURRENT APHTHAE. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol. 1963 Aug;16:945–952. doi: 10.1016/0030-4220(63)90196-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gardner P. S., McQuillin J., Black M. M., Richardson J. Rapid diagnosis of herpesvirus hominis infections in superficial lesions by immunofluorescent antibody technics. Br Med J. 1968 Oct 12;4(5623):89–92. doi: 10.1136/bmj.4.5623.89. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Herrmann E. C., Jr New concepts and developments in applied diagnostic virology. Prog Med Virol. 1974;17(0):221–289. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. KAUFMAN H. E. The diagnosis of corneal herpes simplex infection by fluorescent antibody staining. Arch Ophthalmol. 1960 Sep;64:382–384. doi: 10.1001/archopht.1960.01840010384009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Knight V., Brasier F., Greenberg S. B., Jones D. B. Immunofluorescent diagnosis of acute viral infection. South Med J. 1975 Jun;68(6):764–766. doi: 10.1097/00007611-197506000-00027. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Morrison R. E., Miller M. H., Lyon L. W., Griffiss J. M., Artenstein M. S. Adult meningoencephalitis caused by herpesvirus hominis type 2. Am J Med. 1974 Apr;56(4):540–544. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(74)90486-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Nahmias A., DelBuono I., Pipkin J., Hutton R., Wickliffe C. Rapid identification and typing of herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 by a direct immunofluorescence technique. Appl Microbiol. 1971 Sep;22(3):455–458. doi: 10.1128/am.22.3.455-458.1971. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Richardson J., Crombie A. L., Gardner P. S., McQuillin J. Diagnosis of herpes virus hominis keratitis by immunofluorescence. Br J Ophthalmol. 1969 Sep;53(9):616–620. doi: 10.1136/bjo.53.9.616. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Vestergaard B. F., Thybo H. Rapid diagnosis and typind of herpesvirus hominis by the fluorescent antibody method. Scand J Infect Dis. 1974;6(2):113–116. doi: 10.3109/inf.1974.6.issue-2.03. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES