Evaluating the performance of the focus HerpeSelect® HSV-2 IgG in veterans with chronic hepatitis C infection

Epidemiologic links between chronic hepatitis C and herpes simplex type-2 infection have been suggested; however, type-specific tests for HSV-2 infection have not been validated in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection. The Focus HerpeSelect(®) HSV-2 IgG (Cypress, California) assay and the Biokit HSV-2 rapid assay (Biokit USA, Lexington, MA) were performed on serum samples obtained from 84 veterans with chronic hepatitis C who demonstrated a previously positive HSV-2 serologic test in their medical records. Using the Biokit HSV-2 as the comparator assay, the positive predictive value, and specificity for the HerpeSelect(®) HSV-2 assay were 62.1% (95%CI: 49.3-73.8) and 41.9% (95%CI: 27.0-57.9), respectively. Increasing the HerpeSelect(®) HSV-2 index value defining a positive test result from >1.1 to ≥2.89 increased the assay's specificity to 97.7% (95%CI: 87.7-99.6) and the positive predictive value to 94.1%(95%CI: 71.2-99.0). J. Med. Virol. 9999: 1-5, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. In veterans with chronic hepatitis C infection, HerpeSelect(®) HSV-2 index values between 1.1 and 2.89 should be confirmed with an alternate test for HSV-2 infection.