Utility of Surface and Blood Polymerase Chain Reaction Assays in Identifying Infants With Neonatal Herpes Simplex
Nicole Samies1, Ravi Jariwala2, Suresh Boppana1,3
1From the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics.
The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal
|October 19, 2019
Abstract:
Of 27 neonates with herpes simplex virus, DNAemia was observed in 100% with disseminated disease, 57% with central nervous system disease and 28% with skin, eye, mouth disease, suggesting DNAemia occurs frequently in these infants. Herpes simplex virus culture and polymerase chain reaction were performed on surface specimens from 13/27 infants, and ~50% tested positive only by polymerase chain reaction, suggesting the superiority of this technique.
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