Diagnosis of herpes simplex virus in routine smears by an immunoperoxidase technique

Routine Papanicolaou-stained cervicovaginal smears from 59 patients were cytologically screened for herpetic infection. Forty-one of the smears were positive for herpes, 2 were suspicious and 16 were negative. All 59 slides were then destained and restained by a commercial immunoperoxidase kit for the detection of herpes simplex virus (HSV). The immunoperoxidase stain was positive in 23 of the 41 cytologically positive slides. One of the 2 cytologically suspicious slides was also immunoperoxidase positive, as was 1 of the 16 cytologically negative slides. This study indicates that immunoperoxidase staining is very specific but not quite as sensitive as routine Papanicolaou-stained smears in the detection of HSV. The immunoperoxidase method is thus recommended for the confirmation of HSV cases rather than for the routine diagnosis of HSV infection.