Development, Implementation, and Optimization of LightCycler PCR Assays for Detection of Herpes Simplex Virus and Varicella-Zoster Virus from Clinical Specimens

Abstract

For over 35 years, viruses from clinical specimens have been detected by cell culture techniques; this basic method has been the “gold standard” for the laboratory diagnosis of virus infections [1–4]. Conventionally, specimens were inoculated into cell cultures seeded in tubes; many groups of viruses were recognized by characteristic cytopathic effects induced generally after several days of incubation. In the early 1980s, the incubation time for detection of viruses was significantly reduced by introduction of the shell vial cell culture assay in which early antigens of the virus were detected with monoclonal antibodies after centrifugation and incubation of the vessels for 1–3 days [5, 6].