title: Evaluation of immunologic tests for the detection of ocular herpes simplex virus.
abstract: Four immunologic tests, Herpchek (HC), latex agglutination (AGG), enzyme immunofiltration (IF), and 1 hour enzyme-linked immunoassay (1EIA), were evaluated for detecting herpes simplex virus (HSV) from ocular specimens. Compared with the standard of HSV-positive cell cultures, 24 (65%) of 37 positive HC tests and 22 (59%) of 37 positive IF tests were significantly more sensitive (P less than 0.0005) than the AGG (3%, 1/37) and 1EIA (26%, 1/34) tests. The HC and IF tests were 100% specific, and easy to interpret. In addition, the clinical diagnosis of HSV infection after a thorough ophthalmologic examination was as sensitive (59%, 22/37) (P = 0.4) as any of the immunologic tests. In conclusion, for definitive diagnosis of HSV, the HC test seems more suitable for a central laboratory that handles a large number of viral specimens, and processes HC-negative tests with follow-up cell culture isolation. The enzyme immunofiltration test seems more suitable for a low-volume viral laboratory which confirms all IF test samples with follow-up cell culture isolation.
authors.affiliation: Charles T. Campbell Ophthalmic Microbiology Laboratory, Eye and Ear Institute of Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Kowalski
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Gordon
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D007159:Immunologic Tests / Q000379:methods*; D007635:Keratitis, Dendritic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014776:Virus Cultivation