Prevalence of specific antibodies to herpes simplex virus type 2 as revealed by an enzyme-linked immunoassay and western blot analysis.

A solid-phase ELISA for the detection of antibodies to gG-2 was developed. The assay utilizes a recombinant DNA-derived gG-2 as a solid-phase "capture" reagent and goat anti-human IgG (gamma) conjugate to horseradish peroxidase as a probe (detector) reagent. A total of 229 serum samples collected from various populations were tested by ELISA and western blot analysis. On comparison with confirmed HSV-2 infection, the sensitivity and specificity of the ELISA were 92.9% and 98.7%, respectively. Western blot had a sensitivity of 83.9% and a specificity similar to the ELISA. The ELISA is fast and easy to perform and may be used to diagnose previous exposure to genital herpes and to monitor human response to future HSV-2 vaccines.