Article
Details
Citation
Weidmann M, Meyer-Koenig U & Hufert FT (2003) Rapid detection of herpes simplex virus and varicella-zoster virus infections by real-time PCR. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 41 (4), pp. 1565-1568. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.41.4.1565-1568.2003
Abstract
The herpes simplex viruses types 1 and 2 (HSV-1 and HSV-2) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) can cause life-threatening infections of the central nervous system and lead to severe infections in immunocompromised subjects and newborns. In these cases, rapid diagnosis is crucial. We developed three different real-time PCR assays based on TaqMan chemistry for the LightCycler instrument to detect HSV-1, HSV-2, and VZV. When the TaqMan assays were compared to our in-house nested PCR assays, the test systems had equal sensitivities of ≤10 plasmid copies per assay. When clinical samples were investigated by TaqMan PCR to detect HSV-1, HSV-2, and VZV DNA, 95, 100, and 96% of the samples determined to be positive by nested PCR, respectively, were positive by the real-time PCR assays. The specificities of all PCR assays were almost 100%. Furthermore, the TaqMan PCR assays could be performed within 2.5 h, whereas nested PCR results were available after 9 h. In addition to offering more rapid results, the TaqMan PCR assays appear to be less expensive than nested PCR assays due to less hands-on time. In summary, TaqMan PCR is an excellent alternative to conventional nested PCR assays for the rapid detection of HSV-1, HSV-2, and VZV in clinical samples.
Journal
Journal of Clinical Microbiology: Volume 41, Issue 4
Status | Published |
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Publication date | 30/04/2003 |
Publisher | American Society for Microbiology |
ISSN | 0095-1137 |