A comparative study between viral isolation and indirect immunofluorescence in the diagnosis of herpes simplex virus.

Fifty patients with oral ulcers were studied clinically and investigated for the detections of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) through virus isolation from their lesions (vesicles and ulcers) and detection of the presence of antiviral antibodies (both, IgM and IgG) in their sera using the indirect immunofluorescene (IIF) technique. The results of this study proved that virus isolation is the most reliable method for diagnosis, though the use of antibody serological tests could be a useful adjunct to virus isolation in situations where a rapid laboratory diagnosis is needed. Oral Herpes Simplex virus infection can be viewed, in the main, as a trivial disorder causing patients minor physical discomfort. The prevalence of HSV may be high in innocent infections, as high as 1/3 of the population. However, HSV infection and its complications with troublesome recurrences may make the problem worse. The apparent increase in HSV infection over recent years may be partly due to increased publicity about the disease, the current antiviral treatment, the inclusion of both primary and recurrent cases in clinic follow up and the increased use of viral cultures for diagnosis. The aim of this work is to share in the study of the detection of HSV through virus isolation and detection of antiviral antibodies using IIF technique, as well as the evaluation of the diagnosis by the above mentioned methods.