CLEAR DETECTION AND TYPING OF HERPES-SIMPLEX VIRUS TYPE-1 AND TYPE-2 BY AN INDIRECT ELISA ASSAY - COMPARISON WITH 3 DIFFERENT COMBINED METHODS - CAPTURE ELISA, RESTRICTION ENZYMES, AND POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

The severity and recurrences of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) infection d epend on the type of the infectious agent (HSV-1 or HSV-2), which indu ces the necessity of a nonambiguous detecting typing. The commonly use d capture ELISA technique has to be often supported by DNA analysis to confirm the detection and the typing of HSV viruses in exposed patien ts. In this report, we describe a rapid and cheap indirect ELISA metho d using anti-HSV monospecific polyclonal antibodies prepared in the la boratory. The typing of the studied samples was clear, did not need se ries of dilution, and allowed the immediate classification of viruses without further control examination. We tested 51 specimens, which wer e typed 25 HSV-1 and 26 HSV-2 strains. The comparison with capture ELI SA, restriction enzyme and polymerase chain reaction analysis definite ly allowed our method to be assessed as a useful tool for a routine di agnostic. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.