title: The diagnosis of recent herpes simplex virus type 2 genital infections by the simplex-2 test.
abstract: The prevalence of complement-fixing (CF) antibody against the AG-4 early antigen of herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 (HSV-2) was determined in patients with culture confirmed HSV-2 genital herpes and control groups using a commercial HSV-2 early antigen (Simplex-2; Gene Link Australia Ltd). Eighty seven per cent of 39 sera collected between 14 and 28 days after confirmed primary and recurrent HSV-2 infection were positive. In acute sera collected between 2-10 days after onset the Simplex-2 test was negative in all 90 patients with presumed primary infection but positive in 53% of 230 sera from recurrent infection. A specificity of 90-94.5% was obtained by testing 36 patients with recent proven HSV-1 infection and 331 control group patients. The Simplex-2 test may be useful in some cases of culture-negative, clinically suspected genital HSV-2 lesions only when sera are collected between 14-28 days after primary and recurrent infection. Its lack of specificity makes it unsuitable for the routine diagnosis of recent HSV-2 infection in the general population.
authors.affiliation: Virology Department, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales.
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Field
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Cunningham
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006558:Herpes Genitalis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods*; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral