title: Use of polymerase chain reaction for successful identification of asymptomatic genital infection with herpes simplex virus in pregnant women at delivery.
abstract: The polymerase chain reaction was adapted to the amplification of a herpes simplex virus (HSV) DNA sequence, common to HSV types 1 and 2 (HSV-1, HSV-2). The amplified product was detectable by ethidium-bromide staining or Southern hybridization of gels and by dot hybridization. The HSV polymerase chain reaction detected HSV DNA in samples obtained from eight patients with genital lesions from which HSV-2 was isolated in tissue culture and from four patients with labial lesions from which HSV-1 was isolated. The HSV polymerase chain reaction identified HSV in clinical specimens obtained from 11 women who had asymptomatic genital HSV infections at delivery. None of 11 samples obtained at delivery from women who had antibodies to HSV-2, but whose delivery cultures were negative, were positive by polymerase chain reaction and no false-positive reactions were obtained when the reaction mixture contained human cell DNA or varicella-zoster virus, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, or human papillomavirus DNA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA 94305.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Arvin
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Yasukawa
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Bronzan
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Lewinsohn
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Hensleigh
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Prober
mesh_terms: D015139:Blotting, Southern; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006558:Herpes Genitalis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006560:Herpes Labialis / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral