title: Confirmation of herpes simplex virus type 2 infections in herpes-like genital lesions by a simple complement-fixation test.
abstract: The presence of complement-fixing antibody to an early herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) antigen (the AG-4 antigen) was correlated with HSV-2 infection in the sera of patients with genital herpes. Eighty-eight per cent of sera taken two weeks after clinical diagnosis of a primary or recurrent herpes infection in patients, confirmed to have HSV-2 by virus isolation and typing, contained the anti-AG-4 complement-fixing antibody. None of the patients with genital HSV-1 had the antibody, and only 9% of controls or patients with facial HSV-1 infection had positive results for the antibody. This correlation was used to identify genital HSV-2 infections when either no virus sample had been taken or when virus isolations had been unsuccessful. Thus, a simple complement-fixation test can confirm an HSV-2 virus infection without isolation of the virus from the herpetic lesion.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006558:Herpes Genitalis / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral