Serologic screening for herpes simplex virus type 2 in persons with human immunodeficiency virus

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Virology
• Clinical Diagnostics

Background:

• Subclinical herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) screening can aid human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care.
• HSV-2 serological tests may have reduced performance in HIV-infected individuals.

Purpose of the Study:

• Compare HerpeSelect HSV-2 ELISA and Sure-Vue Rapid HSV-2 Test performance in HIV-infected patients.
• Evaluate assay agreement and the benefit of using both tests for improved screening accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Compared two HSV-2 serological assays (HerpeSelect ELISA and Sure-Vue Rapid Test).
• Analyzed sera from 310 HIV-infected patients at a US clinic.
• Determined overall percent test agreement, negative percent agreement, and positive percent agreement.

Main Results:

• Overall test agreement was 96%.
• High agreement observed at specific HerpeSelect index values (<0.90 for negative, ≥3.0 for positive).
• Discordant results (4%) primarily occurred with HerpeSelect index values between 0.9 and 2.9.

Conclusions:

• Good correlation between HerpeSelect and Sure-Vue HSV-2 Rapid Test in US HIV-infected population.
• Confirmatory testing may not be necessary except for borderline HerpeSelect index values (0.9-3.0).
• Optimized HSV-2 screening strategies can improve diagnostic accuracy in HIV care.