Laboratory diagnosis of herpesviruses

Laboratory diagnosis is made either by demonstration of the presence of virus, viral antigens or virus-specific nucleic acid sequences in suitable specimens or by measurement of antibodies--rise in titer or presence of viral-specific IgM--in blood samples from the patients. A number of biological features characteristic for the herpes viruses can be utilised for detection: the infectivity (isolation in tissue culture), the morphology (visualisation by electronmicroscopy), the antigenicity of viral specified proteins produced by infected cells (immunofluorescence, ELISA and RIA), and unique sequences in viral DNA (hybridisation). The different methods are described and evaluated in regard to viral detectability and speed of performance. Concerning diagnostic serology only the ELISA systems for measurement of viral-specific IgG, total antibodies and IgM have been described because these methods now have been introduced in most viral diagnostic laboratories, and many commercial available kits also operate according to these techniques.