title: Development and clinical evaluation of a novel fully automated qualitative PCR assay for the diagnosis of anogenital herpes simplex virus infection.
abstract: Molecular detection of viral infections has the potential to improve microbial diagnostics, particularly with the emergence of rapid automated systems. We describe the design of the IDbox fully automated cassette-based system for nucleic acid extraction and real-time PCR amplification and perform a clinical evaluation for the diagnosis of genital herpes simplex infections. At optimal cutoff values determined by receiver-operator curves, the IDbox showed sensitivities of 94.9% (95% confidence interval [CI] 84.9-98.7%) and 97.0% (95% CI 88.5-99.5%) and specificities of 96.7% (95% CI 91.2-98.9%) and 97.3% (95% CI 91.9-99.3%) relative to herpes simplex virus culture and PCR, respectively. We discuss relevant design characteristics and approaches used for each step of the analytical process to enhance assay sensitivity and provide accurate results in the presence of potential cross-reactive organisms and interfering substances.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA. Electronic address: Steve.Miller@ucsfmedctr.org.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Samayoa
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Post
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: GenturaDx, Hayward, CA.
authors.forename: Geoff
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McKinley
authors.affiliation: GenturaDx, Hayward, CA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: GenturaDx, Hayward, CA.
authors.forename: Jesus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ching
mesh_terms: D057205:Automation, Laboratory / Q000379:methods*; D006558:Herpes Genitalis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018139:Simplexvirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
keywords: Automated PCR; Herpes simplex virus; Real-time PCR