Herpes simplex virus antigen direct detection in standard virus transport medium by Du Pont Herpchek enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

A commercial 5-h direct herpes simplex virus (HSV) antigen detection enzyme immunoassay kit (Du Pont Herpchek) was compared with a cell culture isolation system by using primary rabbit kidney and MRC-5 cells with 779 clinical specimens received in virus transport medium and with stock tissue culture preparations of HSV types 1 and 2. In the first study of 422 specimens from symptomatic patients, Herpchek detected 110 of 111 HSV-positive specimens (26.3% of all specimens), with a sensitivity of 99% and a specificity of 100%. In the second study of 357 specimens primarily from asymptomatic pregnant women, however, Herpchek detected 70 of 119 HSV-positive specimens (33% of all specimens), with a sensitivity of 58.8% and a specificity of 99.5%. Stock virus dilution experiments showed that Herpchek was 10 to 100 times less sensitive than culture. Herpchek was found to be an acceptable test for symptomatic patients, but for asymptomatic patients shedding a low titer of HSV it was not as sensitive and cell culture of Herpchek-negative specimens is recommended for such cases.