Genital herpes simplex virus infections: laboratory confirmation in diverse patient groups

The laboratory diagnosis of genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections in various patient groups with diverse clinical manifestations including asymptomatic pregnant women with history of genital herpes and in a high prevalence group consisting of male patients with recurring genital ulcerations is described. HSV was detected by conventional cell culture and also by a CPE-enhancement technique using human embryonic lung fibroblasts (MRC-5) and Vero cells with subsequent typing of isolate by HSV type-specific monoclonal antibodies. A definite improvement in HSV diagnosis was noted by the use of the CPE-enhancement technique with the reduction of turn-around time to 24 h at which 61.1% and 50% isolation rates were detected in MRC-5 cells in comparison to 38.9% and 16.6% by conventional cell culture in the high prevalence patient population and asymptomatic pregnant women, respectively. Delayed development of CPE and reduced isolation rates were detected using Vero cells. Follow-up sampling of subsequent episodes of genital ulcerations in those with history of recurrence but an initial negative cell culture result, increased the isolation rate substantially and enabled the confirmation of diagnosis of genital HSV infection.