Abstract
The purposes of the study were to assess the usefulness of simultaneously amplifying herpes simplex virus 1 and 2, varicella-zoster virus, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus and human herpesvirus 6 DNA in various clinical specimens and to analyze clinical events in patients presenting positive results. A total of 763 clinical samples obtained from 758 patients, including 115 cerebrospinal fluids, 102 aqueous fluids, 445 swabs from genital (152), oro-facial (138) and other (155) skin lesions, 96 eye swabs and 5 bronchoalveolar lavages, were tested by using the Consensus polymerase chain reaction methodology. The clinical files of the patients were consulted retrospectively. 171 of the 758 patients (22.5%) were positive for at least one of the six target viruses: herpes simplex virus 1 (n = 95), varicella-zoster virus (n = 40), herpes simplex virus 2 (n = 21), herpes simplex virus 1 plus herpes simplex virus 2 (n = 8), cytomegalovirus (n = 4), Epstein-Barr virus (n = 1), human herpesvirus 6 (n = 1), and herpes simplex virus 1 plus human herpesvirus 6 (n = 1). The Consensus methodology enabled the rapid and accurate detection of herpesviruses in various clinical specimens and provided a reliable tool in the diagnosis of herpetic infections.
Highlights
Molecular assays based on PCR have become an important tool for the detection of various herpes virus DNA in clinical specimens [1,2,3,4,5]
The Herpes Consensus PCR methodology (Argene Biosoft, Varilhes, France) uses "stair primers" [9] in which the primer sequences are based on consensus sequences in the DNA polymerase gene of herpesviruses and allows the simultaneous detection of the six most frequently encountered viruses – herpes simplex virus 1 and 2 (HSV-1, HSV-2), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6)- by a single PCR [10]
PCR was performed according to the protocol of the commercial Herpes Consensus Generic test (Argene Biosoft, Varilhes, France), which uses gene amplification to search for the six main human herpes viruses implicated in infections, HSV-1, HSV-2, CMV, EBV, VZV and HHV-6
Summary
Molecular assays based on PCR have become an important tool for the detection of various herpes virus DNA in clinical specimens [1,2,3,4,5]. Since clinical features of herpetic infections are often not specific and cannot distinguish between the different viruses, amplification systems that allow simultaneous detection of different herpesviruses, have become available [6,7,8].
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