Kinetics of human antibody responses to primary genital herpes simplex virus infection

5 patients with primary genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection were studied prospectively for the production of serum antibody reactivity as measured by the virus micro-neutralization test (NT), micro-solid phase radioimmunometric assay (micro-SPRIA), and antibody-dependent cellular-cytotoxic (ADCC) test. ADCC antibody was detected before reactivity measured by either NT or micro-SPRIA in 2 of the patients. A 3rd patient failed to produce neutralizing antibody, whereas specific activity was detected by the other two methods. In 2 other patients a good correlation was observed for development of antibody by all three methods. There were several discordant results in the kinetics of production of antibody detected by these assays, suggesting that not all individuals produce similar types of antiviral antibody.