title: Genital co-infection with herpes simplex viruses type 1 and 2: comparison of real-time PCR assay and traditional viral isolation methods.
abstract: We report the clinical case of a genital outbreak with both Herpes Simplex Type 1 (HSV-1) and Herpes Simplex Type 2 (HSV-2) during pregnancy. Herpes was presumptively identified by clinical presentation of lesion and Tzanck smear while serotypes were identified by cell culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This case report highlights the need for increased surveillance of both serotypes in genital infection of pregnant women for effective disease management and reduced risk of transmission. Increasing rates of genital infection with HSV-1, the possibility of genital co-infection with HSV-1 and HSV-2 and the non-specificity and lack of sensitivity of traditional viral isolation methods may lead to under-diagnosis of genital HSV-1 infections unless molecular diagnostic methods, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are routinely deployed in the clinical setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma, WA, USA. doctor.perkins@gmail.com
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perkins
authors.forename: Haengcha
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Irvine
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Domagalski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005836:Genitalia, Female / Q000821:virology*; D006561:Herpes Simplex / Q000821:virology*; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018258:Herpesvirus 2, Human / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral